


I fall in love (everyday with someone new)

by scriptatur



Series: I fall in love (everyday with someone new) - series [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Asexual Bucky Barnes, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Character Death Fix, Everybody Lives, Everyone Is Poly Because Avengers, F/M, Fix-It, M/M, Multi, One Big Happy Family, Polyamory Negotiations, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Trans Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-06-02 16:42:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 22,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19445461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scriptatur/pseuds/scriptatur
Summary: "Waking was- surprising. He woke up slowly, like drifting through mist or sirup or- something. He was kind of confused, if he is being perfectly honest. Confused about his own metaphor, a bit, but mainly confused by the fact that he was, well, waking up. That was not something he’d expected to do, after all."When Tony Stark wakes up after the final battle against Thanos, he decides that there will be nothing more that stands between himself and happiness. He goes home with Pepper and Morgan and it doesn't take long for Steve and Bucky (and other (ex-)avengers) to follow. Basically, this is the fix-it that I needed. It's very self indulgent and mostly fluff.





	1. Reunion (R1)

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo... I started this a day after watching Endgame for the first time and now I finally wanna finish it. And since it's camp nano again, this is gonna be my goal for this month. As an extra motivation, I decided to start posting today. The chapters are very short, which means that I will be posting a chapter every (other) day, depending on how much time I have...  
> Also, some of these chapters are entries for the Tony Stark Bingo ^^ 
> 
> Chapter 1 is a fill for R1, reunion :)

Waking was- surprising. He woke up slowly, like drifting through mist or sirup or- something. He was kind of confused, if he is being perfectly honest. Confused about his own metaphor, a bit, but mainly confused by the fact that he was, well, waking up. That was not something he’d expected to do, after all. After Thanos, after the battle, after the gauntlet. It worked, it must have worked, because he didn’t know what he’d do if it didn’t. But if it did work, then he should be dead. So, why was he waking up?

He was pretty sure there was someone sitting next to him. He had no idea where that was, where he was, although if he had to guess, the first guess would be hospital. That is, if he was actually still alive and not, you know, waking up in heaven or something like that. Not that he believed in that, but he had met, fought and befriended aliens, so he was not really sure in what to believe anyhow. It seemed like everything might be possible, these days. Maybe even wielding a gauntlet made for gods.

Tony opened his eyes. Or at least, he tried to. It was surprisingly hard, a lot harder than he expected. He managed to peel one eye open after a moment and discovered that it was Rhodey sitting next to him. And-

“Morgan,” he said, or tried to. It didn’t really sound like anything, but it was enough to get Rhodey’s attention, who moved and thus woke Morgan.

“Daddy,” she cried and almost launched herself onto him, only stopped by Rhodey’s tight grip on her.

“Careful, Morgan, your daddy’s only just woke up.” Then he looked at Tony, eyes bright and shiny. “Hey Tones. How do you feel?”

That- was a good question, that he had not so far considered. How did he feel? Still surprised about being alive, but other than that… He was sore and tired, but nothing hurt.

“Fine,” he managed. His voice was rusty and slurred and he was grateful for the ice chips that Rhodey slid into his mouth. “What happened?” he asked, as soon as he felt like he had enough energy to get the words out.

“You did it,” Rhodey said, smiling. It was a nice smile, all big and relieved and honest. “We made it.” He laughed, as if he couldn’t really believe it. “We actually made it.”

“We-“ That sounded too good to be true. Maybe he was dead after all, and maybe there was such a thing like heaven. “Everyone?” he asked, because if this was heaven, then he had no reason to be afraid of the answer. But Rhodey nodded, still smiling.

“Wakanda lost warriors and we’ve got a couple of nasty injuries, but yeah, everyone made it. You stopped them before they could do too much damages, before they could really hurt us.”

That must have been all of the adult talk that Morgan could stand, because she began to squirm in Rhodey’s arms, reaching out towards Tony. Who wanted nothing more than to reach back, but no matter how not-dead he felt, he was still too weak for that. But Rhodey must have realized what he wanted, because he helped Morgan get up on the bed, where she immediately curled up against Tony, tiny little hands clasped tight around his shirt.

“She hasn’t really left your side, these last couple of days. It took a while to make sure that you’d make it and we’re really glad for Dr. Cho’s help, but as soon as they let her, she was right here, at your side. Not even Pepper could get her to budge, so in the end we decided to just sit with her, with both of you. She’s real stubborn, that kid of yours.”

“Yeah,” Tony said, throat closing up. “Yeah, she is. Love you, pumpkin.”

“Love you 3000, daddy,” she said and yep, Tony was dad enough to admit that this made him cry. A little bit. Rhodey smiled at him and pulled the blanket tighter around both of them.

“Get some rest, Tones.”


	2. It wasn't worth it (K3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony Stark Bingo 2019, K3 It wasn't worth it

He woke up again a couple of hours later to soft voices murmuring next to him. Morgan was still curled up against him, sleeping soundly. He found that by now, he had enough strength to get his arm around her, hug her close, even while being careful not to wake her. The movement got the attention of whoever else was in the room and the conversation stopped. When he was sure that his daughter was as close and as safe as she could be, he turned his head and sought out the other people in the room. It was dark outside, and the room was dimly lit, so it took a moment to recognize them. Rhodey was still here, thank god, sitting on a couch next to Steve. Steve, whose eyes lit up as soon as he realized Tony was watching them. He got up and walked over to the bed, his smile soft and relieved.

“Tony-“

“Hey Cap,” Tony got out, voice still scratchy and dry. Steve immediately reached for the ice chips and offered them to Tony, who nodded gratefully.

“Not Cap anymore,” Steve said after a moment. “Shield’s gone.”

“Oh. Right.” He grinned. “You have a hammer now.”

That made Steve blush, for some reason. He shrugged.

“I don’t know. I thought I might try out this ‘getting a life’ thing that you were always talking about, you know,” he said, now grinning, too.

“That sounds like a good idea.”

Steve nodded slowly, as if lost in thought. After a moment, he pulled the chair closer, sat down. “I’m glad you’re okay, Tony. I- well, historically, it seems like I’m not always on my best when I’m not around you. I’m-“

“Oh come on, you were doing just fine without me,” Tony said, no heat behind those words. He meant it, Steve had been doing good, or at least he had thought so. More shrugging.

“I don’t know, maybe. But maybe I don’t want to, anymore. Be without you, I mean. I- I’d like it if we could be friends, if that’s something you might be interested in.” His smile was still soft, but also a little insecure, a little hopeful, as if he couldn’t be sure what the answer would be. “I’m sorry, you know. About-,” he broke off, shook his head. “I’m so sorry, Tony.”

Tony took a deep breath, nodded. “Yeah, I know. I know, Steve.” He reached out his hand and smiled when Steve took it, as if it was the most natural, obvious thing to do. Maybe it was. Maybe they just should have reached out sooner. “And yeah, I’d like that. Friends, I- I’d really like that.”

Steve’s smile was brilliant, even with his eyes being shiny and wet. “Thank you,” he whispered, softly as if in prayer. “It- it wasn’t worth it, you know. Everything that happened, everything that I, that we did. It wasn’t worth it, because it meant losing you.”

“Steve-“ Tony had no idea what to say, even after all this years. He’d known Steve had his reasons; he’d known for years now that Barnes was not to blame. He understood Steve’s actions, even if he didn’t like them. But-

“I know, I know, I’m tragically late in realizing that. Actually no, I realized that pretty much an hour into that whole mess, back in Germany. But- well. I should have told you, I should have told you years and years ago and I’m sorry. I’m glad we made it, I’m glad we got to this point here, but- I wish I hadn’t hurt you the way I did; you didn’t deserve that and, well… as I said, it wasn’t worth it.”

Okay, now Tony definitely didn’t know what to say anymore. Steve’s smile was still there, but sad and small, not brilliant and hopeful anymore. He wanted that one back, that one had been so much better. It had been a while, Tony realized, since he’d last seen that smile. So, in the end, it wasn’t that hard, figuring out what to do, what to say. He squeezed his hand a bit, as if to make sure that Steve was still holding it, was still there.

“I forgive you,” he said, simple as that. He had more to say, someday, not now. More conversations to be had, more old hurts to be soothed, but right now, this was it. This was the only thing that really mattered. And the way Steve sagged down, tears falling from his eyes and the smile back again, grateful and soft, if a little surprised, as if Tony’s answer had caught Steve off guard. He pressed his forehead to their joint hands for a moment, took a deep breath. His eyes were still wet when he looked up again, but the tears were not falling anymore.

“Thank you,” he breathed, and for the first time in years, Tony was sure that everything would be okay.


	3. Laughter (K4)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a fill for K4, Laughter.

The next time he woke, it was morning and Morgan was gone. He almost panicked for a moment, before he heard her giggling, apparently talking to-

“Pepper!” He sat up and then had to close his eyes for a second, until the world stopped spinning. By the time he opened them again, Pepper was next to him, her hand on his shoulder and laughter in her face.

“Slow down Tony, you shouldn’t push yourself too hard, yet,” she said, while contradicting herself and helping him to fully sit up and passing him a glass of water. Granted, it had a metal straw in it, but still, apparently, he was allowed to hold it all by himself. Yay for the little things. He took a sip, then just held the glass in his hands, setting it down in his lap.

“Pep,” he murmured again, staring at her with what had to be stars in his eyes. God, it was so good to see her. “It’s so good to see you,” he said, just because he could. She smiled at him and leaned down, pressing a soft kiss on his forehead, then on his lips.

“It’s good to see you away, too,” she said, just before Morgan apparently decided she was done with her breakfast and wanted to do something else. Namely, jumping up on Tony’s bed, shrieking with laughter for some reason. Pepper caught her before she could land on Tony’s chest, which was probably good. She did let her crawl all over him though, after looking at him for a moment, so it seemed like he had passed muster. Actually, that was a good question.

“So, not that I’m not happy to be here, but- how? I know Rhodey said something about Dr. Cho last night, but I- I should be-,” he broke off, not wanting to finish that sentence, not ever and definitely not when Morgan was sitting on his lap, hopping around and singing a quiet song to herself.

Pepper shook her head. “I don’t really know. I don’t think the doctors know either, at least not all of it. It seems like the stones had- I don’t know, a mind of their own? As if they didn’t want to let you die, maybe.”

Tony frowned. “They- Pep, that makes no sense.” Pepper laughed, short and dry, before nodding.

“Yeah, I know. None of it makes sense, but you’re here and- well, it looks like we’ve got our second chance, doesn’t it?”

“Third. I- I already got my second chance, with you, with Morgan. I-“ She smiled at him, all soft and full of love, even though her eyes were kinda sad, too.

“That’s good, Tony. You deserve as many chances as you can get.”

“I’m not so sure I believe you, but you know what, I’m not gonna argue. I made it, which is already more than I expected. Also, I’ve learned by now that you are always right, so…” He grinned at hear, pleased when she grinned back and leaned over to give him another kiss. Even if his kid decided that they were being gross and also didn’t pay enough attention to her. Which meant that the next couple of minutes were filled with her shrieking and laughing, as they paid her all the attention she could stand in form of cuddles, kisses and tickling.


	4. Tony/ Rhodey/ Pepper (R4)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a fill for the Tony Stark Bingo square R4: Tony/ Rhodey/ Pepper :)

It took a couple of days, but eventually the doctors decided that yes, he was indeed recovering well. Not that they could tell him what happened, or why he survived, when it had almost cost Bruce’s (or Hulk’s?) arm. But he did, he was fine, for once. Various pains and aches had disappeared – or not yet reappeared, which was just as well. So eventually, they had to let him go home. Home to a place that he didn’t think he’d ever see again. Home to his house and lake and his family. Rhodey was coming with them, because how could he not? Tony knew that he wouldn’t stay for too long, with everything going on right now. They had just brought back half the population of earth, after all. There was still a lot of work to be done, but- not for him. Not this time. All he wanted to do was go home, sit by the lake with a cup of coffee or tea (Pepper had gotten him into the habit, and he had to admit that it could be soothing, sometimes) and just do nothing. Watch his kid play, kiss his wife, maybe kiss Rhodey some too, and just _be_.

It had taken them a while, Pepper and him, to work out what kind of relationship they needed. After everything that happened, after Thanos wiped out half the population of earth and they had miraculously both made it, they had both needed some time to realize what they really wanted, really needed. Tony had always preferred open relationships and it had been hard for Pepper sometimes, to understand that the fact that he loved other people too, didn’t mean that he loved her any less. She did love other people, too, or had loved them when Tony and her hadn’t been together. But in the end, it didn’t mean than she stopped loving Tony, just because they weren’t together at some point. Just like she never really stopped loving some other people.

Maybe it had helped, that one of those other people was Rhodey. Because she knew Rhodey, trusted him, loved him even, if not exactly the same way Tony did. Rhodey and him, they weren’t meant to be together, not with the way their lives were, but they always found each other again. Tony was curious to see how it would continue, now, with Carol in the picture. Not that Rhodey admitted anything. But either way, it had time.

So yeah, it made sense that Rhodey came back home with them. Tony wanted, needed to have his family close, after everything that happened. He had been sure that he would die, after all, sure that this time, is was actually over. To wake up to find Morgan and Rhodey and Pepper and all of them waiting for him, was more than he could have ever hoped for. One more chance, and he definitely planned to make the most of it.

Rhodey helped him make his way over to the lake, while Pepper took Morgan inside to get changed and to get some drinks. It was peaceful, calm. There were more birds than before, which struck Tony as a weird thing to notice. But then again, Thanos hadn’t just wiped out half the human population but half of all living things.

“How are you feeling, Tones,” Rhodey asked, as he sat down next to him. Tony smiled at him, suddenly desperately grateful to be here, with his family.

“Good,” he whispered and knew that this time, he meant it with all of his heart. “Hey, Rhodey?”

“Hm?”

“Kiss me?” Rhodey grinned at him, one eyebrow slightly raised.

“Yeah? That how it is?” Tony nodded.

“Yeah. That’s how it always is, you know that. I mean, if you want to-“

“I know that. And I always want to.”

With that, Rhodey leaned over, laid a soft hand on his jaw to turn his head. His lips were warm and familiar, just as the kiss was. It was perfect.

“Are you stealing my husband, Colonel Rhodes?” Pepper called, just before they could hear Morgan leave the house and run over towards them. Rhodey grinned against his lips and kissed him some more.

“Looks like it, Mrs. Potts. What are you gonna do about it?” Pepper laughed and leaned down to kiss Tony herself.

“Well, steal him back of course,” she said with a smile.


	5. Chapter 5

Tony wasn’t surprised when Steve showed up. He hadn’t been sure, not really, not with Barnes and Wilson being back, but yeah, he wasn’t surprised. He was sitting on the porch when he noticed the car, a couple of days after Rhodey had left, after having pushed it back for as long as possible. It was calm, almost too calm, after everything that had happened during the last couple of days, weeks. So, when the car drove closer, he perked up, grinning expectantly.

Steve was alone. No Barnes, no Wilson, just him. He looked- good. Calmer, as if he’d had a good night’s sleep and a couple of good meals, more settled. And he was smiling, which definitely was a big improvement to the last time he’d come here.

“Hey Tony,” he said, as soon as he got close enough.

“Hey Steve. Fancy seeing you here.” Steve grinned at him and pulled him into a soft, but firm hug as soon as he’d climbed the stairs to the porch.

“I can’t stay long; I’ll be busy bringing the stones back to where they belong. But I just- wanted to see you, before…”

“Before?” Steve leaned back a bit, onto the railing, carefully avoiding his eyes.

“Steve.”

“I’m… I’m just-“

“You’re not coming back,” Tony realized. Well, that hurt. A lot more than it should, after everything that had happened, and yet. Or maybe not, maybe it hurt just the right amount. Because they made it, they made it through and he had hoped that they could have their friendship back, at least, if not more and this- yeah, this hurt. But Steve was already reaching out towards him, taking a step closer, eyes wide.

“No! No, I’m coming back, at least- well, I hope I make it, that’s what I meant.” That- was marginally better, but still not good.

“What do you mean?”

“I have to try. I can’t just-“ He shook his head. “I have to try.”

“Try what?” he asked, even though he had the sinking feeling that he already knew.

“Save Nat,” Steve answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. And yeah, maybe for him it was. But for Tony it meant losing him again.

“We don’t trade lives,” he whispered, almost choking on the words. He knew that Steve had said that, to Vision, years ago. He also knew it hadn’t mattered, in the end. The only link that he might have still had to JARVIS had been dead, destroyed.

Steve smiled at him, sad and small.

“No. No we don’t trade lives, you’re right. But Tony, you have to understand that I have to try, at least. Don’t you?” And that was just it. Because he did understand, of course he did. He knew Steve, after all. So, he nodded, even if he wished to could just shake his head and pull Steve closer, pull him away from all danger and into his arms. He knew that Steve would come, willingly. But Pepper was right, neither of them could rest at night, knowing that they hadn’t tried everything that they could possibly thing of.

“Yeah. Yeah, I understand. I don’t like it, but- yeah… Does Barnes know?” Steve nodded.

“I told him. I told both of them, I had to.”

“Okay. Stay for dinner?”

“Tony, I-“

“Please? Pepper took Morgan out to see her grandparents, it’s just me, I’m all alone tonight, just- please?”

“Okay. Okay, just for dinner.”


	6. Dancing (T5)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a fill for T5 "Dancing" on my TSB :)

They ended up cooking dinner together, standing in the kitchen, moving around each other while music softly played. Tony was kinda dancing though the room, gathering all the things they needed, while Steve was chopping vegetables. It was simple food, steak with roasted veggies. They were drinking apple juice out of fancy wine glasses, because Steve didn’t care for wine too much and Tony didn’t drink anymore (he had stopped the minute Pepper had told him she was pregnant, and he’d never regret it). Steve was talking, telling a story about Scott and Bruce, and it was almost too easy. To pull him in, to dance around the kitchen with him, to lean in and kiss him. It was the easiest thing in the world, right now, even after all the years and missed chances.

The kiss was soft and unhurried, because they were, they had time. Steve didn’t need to leave, he could just stay here, right here in their kitchen, smiling and talking. But then Steve seemed to realize what they were doing, because suddenly he took a step back, eyes wide and mouth open. Tony wanted to close his eyes, lean in again, or at least turn around and not see the rejection on Steve’s face. But of course, he could do neither of these things.

“Tony-“ But Tony was already shaking his head.

“Look, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that, I know- well no, I don’t know, but I still shouldn’t have-“

“Tony, you’re married,” Steve said, as if that was the most important thing. But then again, maybe it was. Although Tony had always been very open about the kind of relationship they had, he had thought Steve knew.

“I- yeah, in an open relationship? I mean, we’re not monogamous, never were…” Steve was staring at him with wide eyes, surprised, so that was definitely a new information.

“Did you, did you not know that? Shit Steve I’m sorry! I didn’t- I wouldn’t do that. I mean, I obviously did, I should have asked-“ He broke off, unsure what to say and mad at himself for ruining the moment. He could have just let it pass, just ignore it, but no, he had to go and ruin what was possibly his last evening with Steve. Fuck. They had been dancing around each other for years now, but never gotten anywhere. And now he’d gone and fucked it up.

Steve’s hand was suddenly touching his and he realized that he was shaking.

“Tony…” He shook his head, clenched his hand into a fist, willing it to be still.

“Look, I’m sorry. Can we- can we just ignore it, please? Steve, I-“ He sighed. “Please?”

Steve was looking at him, but not how Tony would have expected. Contemplating, more than anything else.

“So Pepper knows?” he asked after a moment. “That you kiss other people?” Tony snorted.

“It sounds bad when you say it like that.” Steve shrugged, but didn’t step away, didn’t let Tony’s – admittedly rather weak – attempt at diffusing the situation pass. Tony nodded. “Yeah. She knows that I kiss other people.” He refused to feel guilty about that, even though he knew that it would hurt, if Steve judged him for it.

“And she’s okay with it?”

“That’s kinda how an open relationship works, yes. We talk about it. We have rules and stuff that we do to make sure our relationship works, to make sure Morgan is safe. We don’t have sex with other people without telling each other first, but other than that… yeah, she’s okay with me kissing other people.”

“Okay. And… why did you kiss me?” That was a question Tony had not expected.

“I- Because I wanted to. Because you might not come back and I hate missing chances, even after everything that happened and… I don’t know, I just wanted to, I guess.” Steve nodded, face still serious and calm. Unreadable in a way, which did not make the whole situation any easier.

“You know I have to leave, tonight, right?”

“I know.”

“Would it still be okay if I kiss you some more?”

“Steve… I- what?” What was going on? This was about as far away from what Tony would have expected as it could get.

“I want to, Tony. May I?”

And there was nothing else that Tony could say to that except: “Yes.”


	7. Music (R5)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a fill for R5 "Music" :)

They ended up almost burning the veggies, still standing in the kitchen, still kissing. It was Steve who noticed, of course he did. He pulled away, took them out of the oven, being the responsible adult that he was. Tony didn’t care about dinner anymore, though, he just wanted to go back to kissing. If tonight was all he got, then he wanted to enjoy it as much as he could.

“Steve, leave it. Come on.” But Steve was shaking his head, frowning slightly.

“What is it?” Please don’t reject me now, he thought, I can’t take it.

“Date,” Steve suddenly blurted.

“What?”

“Let me- I know it’s your house, and we cooked together, but- let me take you on a date, here, right now.”

Oh. “Oh.” That was unexpected. But good, obviously. “Yes! Yes please.” Steve smiled, nodded. He leaned in for another quick kiss, but then he turned away and got to work on the food again. He asked a couple of quiet questions while he set the table, mostly about where stuff was (including a candle, because Steve was apparently a romantic), but otherwise they didn’t talk much.

Steve had pushed him into a chair with another glass of juice, telling him to look for some calm background music they could listen to during dinner. Usually Tony let FRIDAY chose the music, but now he spent a moment to scroll through spotify. There were a couple if “dinner playlists” with helpful titles like “Feel Good Dinner”, “Wine & Dine” or “Classical Intimate Dinner”, but all of those didn’t really feel right. He scrolled though a couple of his own favorites, briefly contemplating Aerosmith and finally settling on Eric Clapton. He was trying to decide between ‘Unplugged’ and ‘Riding with the King’. On one hand, Tears in Heaven might not be the best choice right now, but the rest of the album was amazing (scratch that, Tears in Heaven was amazing as well, just kinda sad, too). On the other hand, ‘Riding with the King’ was a bid groovier, which might work well. Also, the songs weren’t always interrupted by clapping. He could always switch to something else if it didn’t fit.

It did fit. Dinner was easy, conversation flowing, and the food was good. They were talking about things they’ve done during the last couple of years. Tony mostly talked about his daughter, because yeah, he was a _dad_. But Steve didn’t seem to mind, he was smiling a lot, laughing about Morgan’s shenanigans. They also talked about Steve’s experience leading group therapy, about how those people were doing now, with loved ones back. It was hard, still, because many people had moved on, eventually and now people were suddenly back. They didn’t dwell too long on difficult memories and hard times, because this was a date after all, and they wanted to have a good time.

Neither of them had thought about dessert, but that didn’t really matter. They ended up on the couch eventually, trading lazy kisses that could have led somewhere, if the situation, the circumstances were different.

“You know,” Tony said after a while, “Pepper and the kid aren’t gonna come back tonight, they’re spending the night at her parent’s. If you wanted…” He drifted off. He was pretty sure that Steve would decline, wouldn’t stay the night either way, but he wanted to offer, at least. Make sure that Steve knew that he wanted to. But Steve was shaking his head, even before Tony had finished his sentence.

“Tony, I-“

“No, I know, it’s fine.” Steve laughed and for a moment it almost sounded like a sob, but his eyes were dry.

“It’s not. It’s really not fine, god, I swore to myself I’d never hurt you again and here I am…”

“You’re not- Steve, you’re not hurting me. Sure, it sucks, and I wish you could stay, but I understand why you can’t. It’s okay, I promise.”

Steve pulled him in again, hugging him close and pressing kisses into his hair.

“We’ll talk about it, okay? When I come back.” Tony nodded. If, he thought to himself, but didn’t say it. For now, they still had time.


	8. Dark (S1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a fill for S1 "dark" :)

It was dark outside when Steve left. They were standing on the porch together, underneath a sky full of stars. It was weird to look up and not feeling scared anymore. After everything that happened, he could finally enjoy their beauty again. Still, he was mainly looking at Steve. They were holding hands and Tony could feel him controlling his strength, clutching his hand without hurting him.

“Steve, I-“ Steve must have known what he was going to say, because he was already shaking his head.

“Tony, don’t, please.”

“Let me say it. It’s fine, you don’t- I just don’t wanna regret not saying it.”

“No. I’ll come back, okay? I’ll come back and we’ll talk, but- please, don’t, not yet.”

Tony closed his eyes shutting what little light there was out. He could feel a single tear rolling down his face, didn’t try to stop it. Soft fingers brushed it away, then Steve pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“I’ll come back,” he promised, then his fingers slipped out of Tony’s hand and he could hear footsteps on the stairs. He opened his eyes, just in time to see Steve looking back, one last time, before getting into the car and driving away. Fuck. Fuck, that hurt. He’d known, he’d told Steve that it was okay, but really, it wasn’t.

He stood there for a while, in the dark. Not really thinking about anything, just feeling. Eventually he went inside. They had cleared the table together, but the dished were still in the sink, waiting to be washed. He hesitated, stared at them for a moment and then decided that he didn’t have the energy to do them now. And besides, he wanted the reminder. To know It was real, even if it could only ever be one date. To know that Steve had been here, that they had laughed about Morgan being a sneaky little kid, finding ways to get ice cream in the middle of the night. To know that they had sat on the couch, making out, soft and unhurried. If Steve didn’t come back, he wanted, he needed those memories. If they were all he could have.

The smell of coffee woke him up, hours later. It wasn’t dark outside anymore; in fact, the sun was shining bright and high. He could hear Morgan running around downstairs, yelling about some thing or another. Pepper was sitting on the bed next to him, a cup of coffee in her hand, a smile in her face.

“Hey,” he rasped, sitting up.

“Good morning,” she said, handing him the coffee as soon as he was upright. “How are you feeling?” He wondered if she knew, if Steve had been in contact with her before coming here.

“Steve was here last night,” he said. She looked surprised and Pepper had no reason to fake it. Not that it mattered either way.

“Oh. What did he want?” He shrugged.

“To see me, I think. To- He’s going to bring the stones back where they belong, into their timeline. He’s- I think he came to say goodbye.”

“Goodbye? Why would he- Is he not coming back?” Tony took a sip of coffee, leaned back against the headboard and held out a hand for her.

“He’s going to try and save Natasha,” he said, not at all surprised by her gasp, the way her eyes were suddenly wide. Hopeful. Natasha and Pepper had had a thing going on almost before Tony and Pepper got it together, that first time. They worked, the two of them and Tony was eternally grateful that Pepper had chosen to stay with him, to let herself be shared, because there was no way he would win against Natasha. He had been a mess, for big parts of their relationship.

“Tony-“ she whispered. He smiled at her. It would be worth it, even if-

“We kissed,” he added, because this was important. “We- had a date, in a way, made dinner together and- well, made out on the couch, for a bit.” He took another sip of coffee. He knew that Pepper would understand what he meant, what had happened.

“You think he’s going to sacrifice himself for her,” she said. He shrugged.

“I think- I don’t really see how else it would work.” His eyes were wet and he could feel a sob crawling its way up his throat. Pepper looked at him with soft eyes for a moment, then she pulled him into a hug. He buried his face in her neck, let himself cry.

“Oh Tony… Does he know? That you love him?” He nodded. It didn’t matter.


	9. AU: Reincarnation (T2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for T2 "Reincarnation"

It took a couple of days for Tony to stop feeling off. He tried hard not to let Morgan notice, because she didn’t really know Steve and he had no idea how to explain this whole mess to her. But at the same time, he didn’t ever want to lie to her, so if she’d ask, he would have to find an answer. So far, she hadn’t.

Of course, just when he was beginning to feel better, a car drove up to the lake. It wasn’t one he knew, not the one Steve had come in, so he wasn’t very hopeful. That didn’t change that fact that he went outside as soon as he heard it, of course, and if it only was because Morgan was playing outside. Sure, Pepper was with her, but one could never be careful enough. Ugh, or maybe he just wanted to see who it was.

The car stopped and for a moment, nothing moved. Then the passenger’s door opened and-

“Natasha!” Pepper cried, before running over to the car and pulling her into a hug. She was crying, they both were, not that Tony couldn’t understand. Although his tears weren’t just of happiness, but that didn’t matter right now. He was just making his way down the stairs when Wilson, who was the driver, opened the backseat door and helped someone else to get out of the car.

“Fuck,” he whispered. Steve looked- almost worse than he had after the battle with Thanos, but he was alive. He was here. Before he even knew what was happening, he too was running over to the car.

Steve was leaning onto the car, smiling indulgently to whatever Wilson was saying. He didn’t seem to pay a lot of attention, his eyes fixed on Tony, arms opening up just a moment before Tony almost crashed into him. He stopped at the last second, remembering that Steve was hurt, but unable to keep away.

“Hey sweetheart,” he said, smile still evident in his voice.

“You’re an asshole,” Tony choked out (desperately hoping that his daughter did not hear what he was saying), before pulling Steve down for a kiss.

“Hey… Hey, Tony, it’s okay. I told you I’d come back, didn’t I?”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“No, I don’t.” He could hear someone clearing his throat, someone else laughing, but he didn’t care. One day he was going to run out of second and third chances, but apparently it was not today. And Steve didn’t seem to mind, judging by the way he was kissing back.

Eventually, they did pull apart, if only because Tony needed to breath and Steve probably needed to sit down. Or go back to the hospital, holy fuck.

“You should probably still be in medical care,” he said, even though he really didn’t want Steve to leave. Someone snorted next to them.

“Still, he says. That asshole was hobbling over to the car as soon as he was awake enough to do so.” Barnes was grinning at them, casually leaning on the car roof.

“Shut up,” Steve mumbled, but he didn’t protest what Barnes had said.

“Oh really, did you now, Steven?” Tony voice was suddenly icy, which made both Barnes and Wilson laugh so hard that is was difficult maintaining a stern face. Steve at least had the good graces to look abashed.

“I just wanted to see you,” he said, as if that made everything better (it did, but that was not the point).

“You could have called.”

“But that’s not the same.”

“I would have come to see you, idiot.”

“Oh.” Apparently, that was a thought that hadn’t occurred to him. Tony shook his head. He was surrounded by a bunch of idiots. Apart from Natasha, it seemed, who was currently very busy trying to sneak Pepper inside the house without any of them noticing.

“Natasha!” he yelled, just to let her know that he saw her.

“Hey Tony,” she called back, “it’s really good to see you, talk to you later, I’m gonna steal your wife for a bit.” Tony snorted.

“Thieves and liars, all of you,” he mumbled fondly, before he slid his arm around Steve’s waist to help him inside. “Come on, let’s get you settled. Wilson, Barnes, you’re on babysitting duty.” At least that had them stop laughing for a minute. Ah well, they’ll live.


	10. Hot water (T3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a fill for "hot water" (T3) :)

Pepper and Natasha had retreated to one of the guestrooms, which meant that Tony brought Steve into the master bedroom. Which was good, because that was the room with the biggest and best set up connected bathroom.

“Are you hurt?” Steve shook his head, to which Tony only raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not. Sore and beat up, but not- not injured, I promise. Worst there is are a couple of broken ribs and you know how fast they heal.” Tony stared at him, the bruises on his face.

“You really came straight here, didn’t you?” Steve nodded, a little sheepish.

“I really didn’t think about calling, I-“ Tony shook his head, smiling.

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. I just- you looked so sad when I left. I just wanted to see you.” Tony had to close his eyes for a second, almost overwhelmed with feelings. “Sweetheart…”

“I love you.” This time, Steve didn’t stop him (or maybe he wasn’t fast enough). It didn’t matter.

“I love you, too,” he said, “Tony. I love you, too. I had to- I never imagined that I could get another chance, when- when you married Pepper, I thought…” Tony smiled at him, but then he hesitated. He didn’t want to risk ruining the mood, but this was important.

“You know I still love her, too, right? I’m not gonna stop being with her.”

“But you’d still let me take you out on a date?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s all I’m asking for. I know you have more than enough love for both of us, for more than both of us. I know you, Tony.”

“Fuck.”

“Later, maybe.” And that was apparently the thing that sent Tony into a giggling fit. Troll. Steve chuckled, but didn’t laugh, which was probably wise, considering he had broken ribs. Which was a thought that sobered Tony up pretty fast. Almost too fast, judging by the startled look on Steve’s face.

“What’s wrong?”

“You’re hurting.”

“I’m fine. I’ve had worse, I can manage.”

“Yeah, I know. But that doesn’t mean you have to do it alone.”

“I- yeah, okay.” Tony smiled at him, before he turned around and left Steve sitting on the bed for a moment.

“Be right back,” he said, already opening the door to the bathroom, thinking. A bath, obviously, something with bubbles, because those were always fun. They had all seen each other naked before, of course, with them working as a team for a while. But this was different. Not bad, but not something they should rush. They had time, now. For real. So bubbles and colored water it was.

It smelled like lavender and something herby that Pepper would probably recognize but Tony didn’t, by the time that Tony helped Steve into the bath. Steve hissed as the hot water hit his skin, but moments later he was settled, eyes closes with a blissful expression in his face.

“Hey, can I let you soak here for a moment while I go check on Morgan?” he asked after a moment. He was pretty sure Steve wasn’t going to drown, with his head on the little pillow, stretched out in the big tub. Steve gave him a soft and lazy smile.

“This is perfect, thank you so much, Tony.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, before leaning down for a soft kiss. “I’ll be back soon, okay. I’ll bring you something to drink, are you hungry?” He seemed to consider that for a moment.

“I could eat, yeah. If you have something, otherwise I’ll be fine for another couple of hours.”

“I’ll see what I can find,” he said and then left the bathroom. Steve’s clothes were all over the bedroom floor and probably needed to be burned. Or at least washed, but there was no way he was gonna be able to wear those again anytime soon. Tony added searching for clothes to his mental to do list and then went to look for his daughter.


	11. Apology (A1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for A1, "apology".

He found the three of them in the kitchen, making- cupcakes?

“What the- what are you doing?”

“Daddy! We’re baking, daddy,” Morgan said, before she ran over to him, demanding to be picked up. He was sure he was gonna end up with frosting on his clothes but eh, whatever.

“I can see that, pumpkin.” He looked at the two men standing in his kitchen, both wearing a sheepish expression. Barnes had ducked out of the way, away from Morgan, as soon as Tony had entered the kitchen. That was something they would need to talk about, because he had seemed to be enjoying himself and Tony didn’t want him to stop doing so, just because of some misguided guilt.

“Did she put you up to this?” he asked, when it became clear that neither of them was going to say anything. Wilson grinned, but Barnes shook his head.

“It was my idea,” he said, almost whispered, as if he was afraid of- of what exactly? Punishment? Holy fuck, yeah that talk needed to happen soon.

“Okay, cool. Did she behave for you?” Wilson nodded, apparently not surprised by the easy acceptance.

“Yeah, she’s a real sweet kid, Mr. Stark.” Ugh no.

“Tony. Don’t mister me in here, I live here.” Wilson laughed.

“Sam then.” Tony nodded and then looked at Barnes.

“What do you prefer?” he wanted to know.

“I-“ Barnes obviously hesitated, then looked at Sam, who just gave him a look.

“Bucky.”

“Okay perfect. Can I talk to you for a second, Bucky?” That had him sending an almost panicked look in Sam’s direction, but he didn’t protest. He set down the bowl of frosting he was holding while Tony passed Morgan over to Sam and then followed him outside on the porch.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to- I can go-“ Bucky started, but he fell silent as soon as Tony hold up a hand. He took a deep breath and very deliberately relaxed his shoulders, then raised his eyes to look at Tony.

“I’m sorry,” Tony said, which was very obviously not what the man had expected. Which made it all the more important. “I’m sorry for what happened in Siberia, for attacking you. I’m sorry for accusing you as well, and for the fact that I didn’t help you when I could have.”

Bucky stared at him with wide eyes. Tony sighed.

“Look I’m- I’m not sure you can forgive me and I’m not asking you to. I’d be honored if you would, but I also understand if you can’t. I was hoping we could be- I don’t know, if not friends then at least be civil to each other, for Steve’s sake.”

“Why would you- I- I killed your parents,” Bucky whispered, almost choking on the words.

“No. HYDRA killed my parents; you were just the tool the used. It wasn’t your fault, but I forgive you, if you need it.” That had apparently been the right thing to say, because Bucky suddenly slumped down as if all the strings had been cut and Tony only just managed to catch him before he fell. They sank to the floor and Tony realized that Bucky was crying, almost sobbing. Shit, that had not been the intention.

“Hey, can I hug you? Shake your head if you’d rather I not and I’ll go get Sam.” For a moment, Bucky didn’t react, then he carefully and very hesitantly nodded. Tony smiled and pulled him into a hug, keeping it light in case Bucky wanted to leave. He didn’t talk, didn’t offer any platitudes, but he also didn’t move.

It took a while, but eventually Bucky calmed down, straightened up a bit. He was whipping his eyes on his sleeve, or at least he tried to, until Tony passed him a tissue. Being a prepared dad definitely had his benefits, sometimes.

It was Bucky who spoke first, after a while: “Of course I forgive you, it wasn’t-“ He broke off, shook his head. “I’d like to be friends,” he said then, a small smile on his lips. “Steve speaks very highly of you, always did and I- I’d like to get to know you.” Tony smiled.

“Yeah, I’d like that too, very much.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No bingo fill this time, but I just wanted to let you know that updates might come a bit slower these days, since I'm not at home atm... But I'm still here and the story will definitely be finished (I guess there will be around 35 chapters ^^)

Steve was still laying in the tub when Tony came back, eyes closed, small smile on his face. Tony was balancing a couple of bottles, a plate and some cupcakes in his hands, rolling his eyes when Steve looked at him and grinned.

“You need help?” Tony snorted.

“Nah, I’m good, you stay there.” He put the plate down next to the lavatory and passed one open water bottle over to Steve. “Water still warm enough?”

“Yeah, it’s perfect, thank you,” Steve said, taking a couple of sips before he gave the bottle back. “Everything okay downstairs?” Tony nodded, then realized that Steve had already closed his eyes again.

“Yeah, they’re baking cupcakes, which is a great way to occupy Morgan.” He hesitated, then added: “I talked to Bucky.”

“Oh?” Now Steve was looking at him again, obviously waiting for more.

“Mhm,” Tony said. There was a stool in the corner, usually used while giving Morgan a bath. Tony pulled it closer and sat down next to the tub. “He’s good with kids.”

“Yeah? He used to be.”

“I think Morgan likes him.” Actually no, he was sure she did, because if not she’d have told him. Loudly.

“Is that- is that okay?” Jesus, what was it with those guys and guilt?

“Yes. Yes Steve, that is okay, what do you think? Even if I didn’t like the guy, who am I to dictate who my daughter’s allowed to talk to or not? I mean, as long as the guy is not a sociopath or something like that.” Steve stared at him, wide-eyed.

“You like him?” Because of course that was the thing Steve was latching on.

“Yeah, sure. I mean, I don’t know him enough, but he seems like a nice guy.”

“But-“ He broke off, obviously at loss.

“Steve, I was angry with you, because you didn’t tell me. That was not okay, and it sucked, yes. But I was never angry at Bucky, not really. I know it’s not his fault, I’ve always known that. Jesus, what- did you think I hated him?”

Steve was still looking at him with wide eyes and Tony got the sinking feeling that yes, that was exactly what he had thought. But then he shook his head, sitting up a bit more (and fuck, they definitely needed to take care of those ribs, that did not look healthy).

“No, I- I think I mostly tried not to think about it. I mean, I hoped you would see, that it wasn’t him, but I also- I should have told you and I was afraid that my mistake was too big, that you wouldn’t ever want to talk to me, to us again.” Tony sighed. Yeah, he could see where that thought came from, not only after Siberia, but also after he came back from Titan. But maybe now was not the right moment to talk about this, with Steve hurt and Tony only just beginning to realize that yes, he was actually back, he actually got to have that.

“Okay, can we- can we talk about that later? Bucky and me, we’re fine, we’ll get to know each other and soon we’ll be a combined pain in your ass, okay? Let’s just- let’s get you cleaned up and in bed, I think that’s more important right now.” Steve nodded, as grateful look on his face.

“Thank you, Tony. Really, I-“ But Tony only shook his head, taking the body wash and a washcloth in hand. They could talk later, they could even apologize again later, but right now he just wanted to enjoy the moment.


	13. Chapter 13

Natasha and Pepper were sitting in the kitchen when Steve and Tony finally made their way back down. They had devoured the cupcakes and fruits Tony had brought up and then Tony had spent some time patching Steve up. He was right, it wasn’t that bad, not anymore. The hot water had helped for the various aches and pains, so the main thing Tony did was tape his ribs. He’d wanted Steve to sleep some, pretty sure that that would take care of the rest, but Steve had insisted on checking on the others. Maybe he wanted to see Bucky, that would make sense. And Tony did want to see Natasha, too, so in the end they just got dressed in comfy clothes and went downstairs.

Morgan was sitting on Pepper’s lap, grinning up at her father when they came into the kitchen. There was food, pasta with tomato sauce, easy stuff, but good, filling. Tony pushed Steve into a chair, while Bucky was already filling bowls for them, giving Tony a very shy smile when he passed them over. He put one down in front of Steve, the other one next to him and then went and pulled Natasha into a hug.

“It’s so good to see you,” he murmured into her hair, not even bothered when she tightened the hug for a second, almost painfully so.

“I’m glad it worked,” she answered, equally quiet, “I’m glad you made it.” He pulled back a bit, looking at her. She- looked tired, but good. Happy. Probably just as happy Tony had been, with waking up when he’d been sure he never would wake up again.

“Have you seen Clint yet?” he asked after a moment, sitting down and falling over his food like a starving man. “Oh this is good, who made that?” Sam raised his arm, grinning. “You, you’re hired.” He pointed his fork in Sam’s direction, before turning back to Natasha. She shook his head. “What? Why not? But he knows, right? I mean…” He turned, looked at Steve, at her again. She shrugged. “You didn’t tell him.”

Steve was blushing. Why was Steve blushing?

“It was either coming here or going to Clint’s first. And well-“ She broke off, looking at Steve.

“What?” Tony said, confused. Steve blushed some more, then ducked his head.

“I wanted to see you,” he said and suddenly Tony understood.

“Oh my god!” By now, both Bucky and Sam had the most shit-eating grins on their faces, Morgan was demanding to know what was going on (which Pepper answered with “they’re just being bad at communicating, sweetie”; thanks Pepper).

“You need to go see Clint,” Tony said. Natasha shrugged.

“I will. But I’m too tired to make another trip right now.”

“You want me to call him and tell him to come here?” Natasha stared at him. So did Steve. Did those people never think?

“You- you could do that?” Steve asked.

“I’m in possession of a phone, yes Steve,” he deadpanned. Oh, would you look at that, even more blushing. Bucky was laying all over the table by now, laughing. “I’m surrounded by a bunch of idiots.”

He shoved some more pasta into his mouth, before getting up and pulling out his phone. He made his way outside on the porch, leaving back a kitchen full of laughing people.

“Hey Tony, what’s up?” Tony could hear children yelling in the background and he grinned. Parenthood was awesome.

“Hey Clint. Do you have a moment?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Maybe find a quiet place for a second.” There was a pause.

“Oookay. What’s going on?” Tony took a deep breath, let it out slowly.

“So, you know how Steve went and brought those stones back to where they belonged?”

“Yeah.”

“He brought Natasha back.” There was a clatter on the other side, then silence. Tony waited and it only took a moment for Clint to be back.

“What?” he asked breathlessly, almost silently.

“She’s here. She’s okay, a bit banged up and very tired, but she’s here. We wanted to know if you’d like to come over or if you wanted to wait a couple of days until she’s up for another trip?”

There was another moment of silence, then: “I’ll come. Of course I’ll- Tony are you sure?”

“Yes. Clint, I promise, she’s here, she’s alive. Come see her.”

“Yes.”


	14. Chapter 14

Clint was standing in the door, frozen, staring at Natasha. She was sitting on the couch, equally frozen, equally longing.

“Oh, for god’s sake, go hug her,” Tony said, laughing as they both suddenly moved, clashing into each other in the middle of his living room. What even was his life? He had thought that it was over, all of this, them crashing his place whenever they felt like it, but no. No, even after all this time, they were still here, freeloading his food and gadgets, playing hide and seek with his daughter.

Clint and Natasha were clutching at each other, desperately, whispering to each other in Russian about god knows what. Probably insults, the way Natasha’s laugh sounded, all wet and relieved.

It took a while for them to separate and even then, they were still touching, still holding hands in a way that made Tony wonder, not for the first time, if they were (or had been) sleeping together. Whatever it was, they needed each other and not for the first time Tony was glad that Steve was the way he was. Selfless and devoted, always.

Clint was looking at him with watery eyes. “Thank you, Tony,” he whispered. Tony frowned.

“Don’t thank me, Steve found her.” Clint shrugged.

“Maybe. But he wouldn’t have been able to do so, if not for you. Not only because it’s your tech, although that too. But… we all need someone who believes in the best of us, and you always have. Even when we betrayed you, you always believed in us.”

Tony was staring at him, speechless. That- escalated quickly.

“Clint, I-“ He broke off, not knowing what to say, but Clint only smiled at him.

“Don’t worry, it’s okay. I just- I wanted you to know, I guess. That I see you.” Tony swallowed, nodded.

“Thank you,” he whispered, before turning away and fleeing to the kitchen. Nobody called him out, or back, and even Steve gave him a couple of minutes to compose himself. He had always known that Clint saw more than he let them know about, of course he did. It was his job, had saved his life (and Natasha’s, if the stories could be believed in) countless times. But to be seen, so deeply, by Clint was- devastating, almost, even if it was in a good way.

“He’s right, you know,” Steve said a couple of minutes later, leaning onto the door frame, arms casually crossed, face serious. “I’m only ever as good as you believe me to be.”

“That’s bullshit,” Tony returned. Steve smiled, shrugged.

“Maybe. But it sure feels that way.”

“Steve…”

“I’m not asking you to validate me, or to be my moral compass.” He grinned. “I just… I can do so much more, so much better, when I know you believe in me. I’m not good, on my own, never was. I always had Bucky, and when I didn’t I- well, you know how the story goes.” He hesitated, took a step closer. After a moment, he reached out and took Tony’s hand in his. “I love you, Tony Stark. You make me want to be better and I’m always gonna be thankful for that. Thankful that I can share this with you, whatever it is, whatever it will be.”

Tony swallowed, feeling suddenly small and vulnerable and big and indestructible at the same time. He took a step towards Steve, kissed him, lightly.

“I love you, too, Steve. Even if I think you have way too much faith in me.” He grinned.


	15. New Team (S4)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a fill for S4 "new team" :)

They fell into a rhythm, somehow. Natasha spent most of her time with Clint and his family; but came over so often that it never really felt like she left. Wilson picked up the shield and went to train the new Avengers (which meant mainly Peter. Who still hadn’t come to see Tony, now that he thought about it. He’d known that Peter was with his aunt when he woke up, which made sense, but still, he had kinda expected to see him at some point. Hmm, that might need some investigation). Bucky seemed to be torn between following Wilson and staying with Steve, which meant that he was kinda all over the place for the moment. And Steve- Steve just didn’t leave. Tony knew that he had had a long and very throughout conversation with Pepper at some point, which had seemed to settle him some, because after that he just kinda moved in. The house was not a mansion, not a tower, but still big enough that they had more guestrooms than they knew what to do with. At least, until the team decided to spend so much time here, of course. Which meant that one of the guestrooms was now Steve’s room.

Morgan didn’t have a problem with that development, not at all. She took to her new uncle Steve, uncle Bucky, uncle Sam (shut up, it was hilarious, okay) and aunt Nat with ease, enjoying having so many people over who all loved to spend time with her.

Tony loved it, too. It was good to know that there was always someone around for Morgan, which made days both Pepper and he spent working (because Stark Industries still existed, even if Tony had hardly anything to do with it anymore) so much easier. Especially Steve seemed to love playing babysitter, which was good, because he was around so much that Tony was just kinda waiting for the day Morgan called him papa. Not yet, of course, but at some point, it might happen, maybe. She was still young and didn’t care at all about relationship conventions, so she might not see anything wrong with having a mom and two dads.

Tony spent his nights alternating between Pepper and Steve, depending on the mood and if Nat was here or not. She usually spent the night with Pepper, in which case Tony ceded the bed to them.

So yeah, it was good. The only one (apart from Peter, who he hadn’t seen yet) who still worried Tony was Bucky. He didn’t really seem to find a place that he could call home. Both he and Sam spent time at the house, even when Sam got sucked into his new duty more and more. Bucky followed him on missions, but he often came to see Steve on his own as well. It was kinda heartbreaking, the way he was still hesitating at the door step, as if he expected to be thrown out every time. Tony made a point to include him as much as he could, passing Morgan to him whenever he could, because that seemed to help him be at ease, at least a bit. He had tried to refuse, in the beginning, but soon realized that Tony wouldn’t stop. Then he started to enjoy it, or so it seemed. Maybe it was easier for him, to smile and talk with Morgan, who didn’t know him before, who expected nothing of him.

Steve was sitting on the porch, watching Bucky and Morgan play by the lake, as sad little smile in his face.

“Hey, you okay?” Tony asked, as he passed him a cup of tea and sat down next to him. Steve nodded.

“Yeah. I was just- watching them, I guess. Remembering.”

“He’s good with kids,” Tony offered.

“He always was. His sisters adored him. Well, we all did, I guess.” Tony was watching him, so it wasn’t hard to catch the wistful look on his face. It wasn’t the first time, either.

“You never stopped loving him, did you?” Steve’s head suddenly snapped up and he was looking at Tony with wide eyes.

“Tony, I- you know I love you…” Tony frowned, shook his head.

“Steve. I’m the best example of how loving more than one person works out perfectly fine. What on earth made you think I wouldn’t be okay with that?” Steve blushed, ducked his head.

“Sorry, you’re right. I wasn’t- I wasn’t thinking, I guess. Maybe it’s just habit. Not everyone is so… understanding.” Tony nodded. “But yeah, I never stopped loving him.”

“Does he know?”

“I- I don’t know, to be honest.”


	16. Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier (T1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a fill for T1, "Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier" :)

Now that Tony knew what he was looking for, it was easy to see. Steve’s love for Bucky was obvious, but it didn’t take long for him to see Bucky’s love for Steve as well. It might have been different, somehow, but it was there. He wasn’t really sure if what Bucky felt was romantic love, which was also because Bucky didn’t seem to know. Tony noticed that Steve was not the only one being watched by Bucky, he himself was too. He wasn’t sure if that was because he was currently (sometimes) sharing Steve’s bed and if what Bucky felt was jealousy, or if Bucky wanted them both, wanted to join them. Or if it was neither, if he didn’t even love Steve that way, although Tony was pretty sure that was not it.

And maybe it was just because Tony was paying attention now, but he started to look too. He’d been looking at Steve for years now, almost a decade even. But Bucky was new, obviously, but not any less intriguing. He was calm, almost shyly so, but also incredibly kind. Not only was he amazing with Morgan, patient and always willing to listen to her, without ever treating her like- well, he never really treated her like she was anything less than a tiny human being that needed help sometimes but was otherwise just as intelligent, just as valid as anybody else.

But it wasn’t just with Morgan. He was that way with Sam, too, even though their relationship was sometimes a bit weird. They were downright mean to each other, but fiercely protective at the same time. Pretty similar to the relationship Bucky and Steve had, actually, with the only difference that they weren’t quite as mean to each other. Tony had the impression, that this was mainly because Bucky was too insecure, and the whole relationship was too fragile, after everything that had happened.

Bucky was sitting on the porch, staring out into the darkness. It was late, Morgan had been brought to bed hours ago and even Steve had gone to sleep. Tony had been planning on doing the same, just before he noticed Bucky sitting outside. So he changed his plan, made two cups of tea and went to join him.

“Hey, everything alright?” Bucky nodded and took one of the cups in his hand.

“Yeah. Thanks,” he murmured. He seemed tired. Sam had dropped him off here just a couple of hours ago, after they had finished their last mission.

“Can’t sleep?” Bucky shrugged, winced.

“Haven’t tried yet.” Tony frowned at him. Bucky was holding his left arm pretty stiff, as if it was hurting him. Sam hadn’t said anything, but still, it was suspicious.

“Is your arm hurting?” More shrugging

“Just uncomfortable,” he admitted after a while.

“Uncomfortable how?”

“I don’t know… Like it’s stiff, doesn’t move quite right. It’s fine, it’ll be gone soon.”

“Has that happened before?” Tony wanted to know. He had never noticed, but the arm was Shuri’s work, so he hadn’t had any reason to.

“Sometimes… I think-“ He broke off, staring out into the dark.

“What do you think?”

“I was only wearing it for a couple of hours, before the fight in Wakanda, before… Well, before that. And after, it was never really the right time and I mean, it worked, didn’t it?” He shrugged again.

“So the arm’s never really been calibrated or maintained?”

“It’s not Shuri’s fault,” Bucky insisted. Tony smiled.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. Stuff like that happens sometimes, it’s nobody’s fault. But you should let me look at it. Or, I mean-“ Now Tony broke off, suddenly unsure. They had been fine, these last couple of weeks, but it was still very much work in progress, and he had no reason to assume that Bucky would be comfortable with him looking at his arm. “I can call Shuri, ask her if she’d-“ But Bucky was already shaking his head.

“The princess is busy, more than enough. Can you… I wouldn’t mind you looking at it. I mean… I trust you.”

And here it was again, that incredible openness, the willingness to trust, to love even, after everything that had happened. Tony swallowed, suddenly feeling heavy with that feeling.

“Okay. I, okay. You wanna do it now or wait until tomorrow?”

“You were on your way to bed.” Not a question.

“One late night won’t kill me.”

“Okay. Now, then.”


	17. Picture of Tony standing in front of the cave with the mark I armor in IM1 (T4)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a fill for T4 "Picture of Tony standing in front of the cave"... Also I just realized, this is my first bingo!! Yay ^^

They sat down on the couch, because all Tony needed to begin with was to just look at it and maybe have FRIDAY scan it. Bucky seemed pretty relaxed, sitting down next to him and offering the arm as if it was normal. As if Tony didn’t know for a fact that not even Steve was really allowed to touch it most days. As if- Well, on some days, Tony was still working on believing he deserved good things, or love, or trust. It seemed like tonight might be going in that direction. He shrugged it off. He could freak out later, but right now Bucky needed him to focus.

“Okay, what can you tell me about it?” Tony asked. Bucky shrugged.

“Not much. It’s Wakandan tech, so probably at least in parts vibranium, but other than that…”

“How does it feel? Usually?”

“Pretty natural. But then again, so did the other one, at least when it was well maintained. Sometimes they didn’t- well, sometimes they didn’t care. Then it hurt, felt wrong. That one doesn’t. It- it’s not quite my arm, like it’s too new or something, but it also doesn’t feel like it doesn’t belong there, like- I don’t know if that makes sense,” Bucky said, looking confused but Tony was already nodding.

“Yeah no, that does make sense, at least to me. I-“ He hesitated. Fuck it. “I don’t know how much you know, about me, about how I became Iron Man, but I used to have an arc reactor, right here.” He tapped his chest. “It has been gone for years by now, and sometimes I still wake up feeling like there’s something missing. It didn’t belong there, but that didn’t change the fact that it was part of me, that it- it belonged _to_ me, I guess.”

“Yes, that. That’s what it feels like.” Bucky was smiling, almost relieved. Tony nodded, smiled back.

They spent the next couple of minutes in comfortable silence, while Tony tried to familiarize himself with the arm. It was very interesting, of course, and brilliant, as was everything that Shuri made.

“I didn’t know,” Bucky said eventually, voice quiet.

“Didn’t know what?” Tony asked.

“About the arc reactor. It- it powers your suit, doesn’t it?” Tony nodded.

“Yeah. Well, it did, nowadays the suit is all nanotech. But yeah, it used to. Powered my heart as well, for a while.” He snorted. “That’s not actually true. But it did keep the shrapnel in my chest from moving into my heart, so it did keep me alive.” It took Tony a moment to realize, that Bucky was completely frozen, staring at him in shock. “Hey, what is it, are you okay?”

“We destroyed it. We- Steve he-“ Oh crap.

“Oh hey, no. No, that wasn’t the one implanted in my chest, I took it out years before that happened. It’s fine.”

“It’s not fine!”

Tony had never heard Bucky raise his voice, and he didn’t now, not really. But he did sound very determined, as if it was important for Tony to understand, as if this was something that he would not change his mind about.

“Bucky…”

“No. Tony, no. I understand that you forgive us, and I’m incredibly thankful for that, if not for myself then for Steve. But… please don’t say it was fine. It was wrong, it should not have happened and if Steve knew that, if he knew what the arc reactor meant-“ He broke off. His right hand was shaking, while the left one was still lying in Tony’s lap, soft and pliant.

“I blasted your arm off,” he said, almost helplessly. “I-“

“In self-defense. You didn’t try to kill me, because if you would have, I’d be dead. Steve- Steve didn’t hold back.”

Tony stared at him for a long moment, until Bucky tried to pull his left hand back and Tony instinctively held on to it. Then he realized what he was doing and let go, giving Bucky the chance to move away. He didn’t.

“I’m sorry,” he said instead. “I didn’t mean to bring back these memories, I just-“ Tony shook his head.

“I fought my way out of that cave, years and years ago. The arc reactor saved my life, but after that- They wanted me to build weapons and I refused. I don’t- I build the first armor instead. Clunky thing, could hardly even move or see where I was going. Didn’t have many weapons either. Flamethrowers, mainly. I remember, standing in the entrance of that cave, looking outside, seeing all those weapons that I had made and that had found their way into the hands of terrorists. I burned them all, everything. Then I flew away. I-“ He paused, took a deep breath. Bucky was staring at him with wonder in his eyes, as it this whole thing was something to admire. Tony sighed. “The arc reactor isn’t what makes me Iron Man. Yes, Steve destroying it sucked, but he didn’t- he didn’t destroy Iron Man, not really. He could never have done that. And he didn’t kill me. He could have, but he didn’t.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not a bingo fill, but I realized that I now have my first bingo ^^ Yay :)

They were sitting in silence, both of them almost afraid to break it, neither of them knowing what to say. Bucky was still staring at him, eyes shining with unshed tears. He looked young, so incredibly young and tired. Which made Tony realize that he was tired, too. Steve was probably already sleeping, as was Pepper, and he knew that both of them would welcome him in their bed. But he couldn’t leave Bucky alone, not like that. He hesitated for a moment, thinking.

He got up, still holding Bucky’s hand.

“Come on,” he said, voice soft. Bucky stared at him, clearly not knowing what Tony wanted. He tugged at him, until he got up, too. Tony led him into the kitchen first, made sure that they both had a glass of water, then to the bathroom. They brushed their teeth in silence, washed their faces. Tony took Bucky’s hand again and led him upstairs. They walked past the guestroom Bucky usually used and he could hear him make a soft, questioning sound, but he didn’t protest, didn’t stop until they were standing in front of Steve’s door.

“Come on,” Tony said again, smiling.

“I-“ Bucky shook his head, not really saying no, at least it didn’t seem so. “I should-“

“You should come to bed.” Bucky glanced back to the closed door of his own room, but Tony shook his head.

“I don’t think either of us should be alone right now.”

“Tony, I-“ He broke off.

“I’m not gonna force you, if you don’t want, but… please?”

Bucky hesitated for another moment, then he nodded.

“Steve?”

“He won’t mind.”

“Okay.” God, he sounded so young, so lost.

Tony opened the door, knowing that no matter how quiet they were, Steve would definitely wake up. He took off his pants and then stole one of Steve’s sweatpants and offered them to Bucky. Then he changed into his own PJs. He sat down on the bed and watched Bucky change. He didn’t seem body shy, didn’t seem to mind getting changed in front of Tony.

“You want a shirt?” he asked, but Bucky shook his head. He was wearing Steve’s sweatpants and the prosthetic was gleaming softly in the low light of the bedroom. Tony turned, looked at Steve who had been watching them for a while now. They smiled at each other and Tony shook his head, just a bit, at the question in Steve’s eyes. That was for later, right now, he just wanted to make sure they were all safe.

“Tony?” Bucky asked softly, still hesitating but obviously hopeful. Tony reached out for his hand, pulling him close. He took a step closer, but didn’t sit down yet.

“Come to bed, Bucky,” Steve said, and that was apparently what he had needed. A moment later, they were all in bed. Steve pressed a soft kiss into Tony’s hair, before he reached out and put his hand on Bucky shoulder. It was warm in the middle of two supersoldiers, but good. Safe. He turned his back to Steve, smiling when he snuggled closer and reached out for Bucky again. He found the prosthetic and curled his hands around it, ignoring Bucky’s questioning sound.

“Good night,” he murmured and for once, it didn’t take either of them long to fall asleep.


	19. Wolf (A5)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a fill for A5 "wolf" :)

Tony found Bucky sitting outside on the porch after breakfast the next day. He was holding a cup of coffee in his hand but not drinking it, not really. It seemed more as if it was only there as a prob, as a reason to linger for a while, here, before starting the day. Not that Bucky had any plans, at least as far as Tony knew.

“Hey, you okay?”

Bucky nodded. Tony hesitated for a moment, weirdly reminded of the night before. They sat here just like now, in silence. He wasn’t sure what to say, wasn’t even sure if there was anything at all that he could say. To make this better, easier somehow, even though he didn’t really know what _this_ was.

“I think FRIDAY figured out what’s wrong with your arm,” he said after a moment, just so he could say anything. It wasn’t a lie, and he really did want to make sure that Bucky was comfortable. Especially since it felt like he would be leaving, soon. Tony wasn’t sure what exactly it was that gave him the impression, but the feeling was there, strong and sure. Unwelcome, uncomfortable, but he would never try to keep Bucky from making his own decisions. Even if it broke Steve’s heart. And his, if he was being perfectly honest.

Bucky nodded suddenly, as if only now remembering that he hadn’t given an answer.

“That’s good, thank you.”

“No problem. It shouldn’t take long to fix it.” Another nod. More silence.

“Did you know that they called me White Wolf in Wakanda?” Bucky suddenly asked. His voice was quiet, almost as if he didn’t want to give the thought too much room, too much voice.

“I- no… That’s a pretty name,” Tony said, not really sure where this was going. “Fitting.” Bucky shrugged.

“Maybe. I think they, well Shuri- I think Shuri wanted me to have another name, in case I decided to not use Winter Soldier anymore. Which yeah, makes sense. I don’t wanna be him anymore, so…” He broke off.

“You don’t have to be the Winter Soldier if you don’t want to,” Tony said. Bucky nodded.

“I- I’m not sure I want to be the White Wolf either,” he admitted after a moment, almost whispering. As if it was shameful, not wanting to fight anymore. Oh. Okay, this Tony could understand.

“You don’t have to be the White Wolf either, Bucky. You don’t have to be anything you don’t want to.”

“But I- I have to do _something,”_ Bucky insisted. Tony shook his head.

“No. You did enough, you served, you fought and now you are allowed to rest, if that’s what you want.”

“I don’t know if I can,” he said after a while. Tony smiled.

“That’s fine, too. You don’t have to know right now. The only think that you need to know is that you don’t have to leave. You can stay here, doing nothing, doing whatever you want, and take your time to figure it all out. We’ll be happy to have you around, Steve and I, and all of us. Morgan loves you.”

Bucky stared at him, eyes wide and unbelieving. But there was hope, too, or at least Tony imagined seeing it. Maybe it was his own, reflected in Bucky’s eyes. They were silent for a long while, just sitting there. Bucky was clearly thinking, absorbing what Tony had just told him. Tony was mostly wishing that he’d have told him sooner.

“Let’s go fix the arm,” Bucky said eventually. Tony nodded.

“And then?” he could help asking. Bucky smiled, a small and fragile thing.

“I’m sure we’ll find something to do. Morgan wanted to go show me a movie, I think. Something about a princess and a frog, maybe?” Tony laughed. They were gonna be alright.


	20. Chapter 20

After that, Bucky found his way into Steve’s bed more often. Tony knew he sometimes slept there when Tony wasn’t there as well, which was probably good. Neither Steve nor Bucky slept well alone, and they tended to have less nightmares if they could cuddle up to each other (or to Tony, which for some reason both of them seemed to prefer).

Bucky never joined them when they had sex, wouldn’t even come after, even though both Tony and Steve made sure that he knew that he was always welcome. The whole relationship was strange, at least right now. They hadn’t talked about it, not really, which meant that they didn’t know, if Bucky wanted to join them or if all he wanted was to share their bed sometimes, just to sleep. Whatever he decided, both Tony and Steve were happy to have him, but it was hard sometimes, not knowing if they were risking pushing Bucky too far, too fast or if he was just waiting for them. Tony knew they had to talk about it and do it soon. Communication was key in any relationship and especially so in a poly relationship, because they needed to know that everyone got what they needed, that everyone knew where the other stood. So, in the end, they just asked. It was still early in the evening, but the three of them had decided to turn in early and they had been laying around in bed, clicking their way through cat videos on youtube, because that was something that both Steve and Bucky seemed to never get bored with.

Eventually, Tony sat up a bit, tried to detangle himself front Steve, ignoring the protesting sound he made. He leaned back onto the wall, closed his eyes for a moment. Now was as good as any other moment, he guessed.

“Hey Bucky?”

“Hm?”

“Do you want to be in a relationship with us? Or one of us?” He was looking at Bucky, knowing that he was probably way to straightforward, but not really knowing what else to say. They needed to be open with each other.

As expected, Bucky stared at him with wide eyes, like Morgan did when she was caught with her hand right in the cookie jar. It could have been almost comical, if it wasn’t so sad that Bucky was still expecting the worse, was still almost breathlessly waiting for the moment the pushed him out of their bed. So yeah, they needed this conversation.

“I- what?” Tony smiled at him, trying to be as reassuring as he could be.

“It’s not- We were just wondering, you know? If that was something that you wanted. It’s okay if it’s not-“

“Or if it is. With both or with one of us,” Steve interjected. Tony nodded.

“Right, what he says.”

Bucky was silent for a while, not even moving and Tony was suddenly worried that it was too much, too soon. That all they would achieve with this was to chase him out of their bed, that he would leave. But he didn’t.

“I- I can’t,” he then said, sounding lost and dejected. Tony couldn’t help himself, he had to reach out, taking Bucky’s hand in his.

“Hey. Hey, no it’s okay, you don’t have to if you don’t want.” But Bucky was already shaking his head.

“I want. I-“ He was looking at them, almost desperately. “But I can’t.”

Now Steve was sitting up as well, looking at Bucky with wide and worried eyes.

“What is it, Bucky? What can’t you do? No one is gonna stop you, or judge you, not here.”

“It’s not- It’s not that.”


	21. Asexuality (K1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo, this is for K1 "asexuality" :)

“What is it, then?” Tony asked. He knew he shouldn’t push, but Bucky was clearly hurting and that was not okay. He was not willing to watch the people he loved being in pain, not anymore. Not if there was anything he could do to change it.

“I can’t- I don’t know what they did, but I-“ Bucky closed his eyes and Tony very desperately hoped that he wasn’t reviving _whatever they did to him_. From the look on Steve’s face, he was probably thinking something similar.

“I don’t want to have sex.” Bucky wasn’t looking at either of them, instead he was staring at his own hand, the one not in Tony’s lap.

That was- unexpected. Steve was looking at Tony, clearly at loss for what to say and Tony was almost amused that he was apparently the “adult” in this relationship.

“Okay, so- just to make sure we understand you correctly. You don’t want to have sex. Just with us or in general?”

“General,” mumbled Bucky.

“Hmm, okay. And you think it has something to do with what HYDRA did to you?” Bucky shrugged.

“It’s not natural, is it? To not want- I can’t, just the thought of it makes me-“ He shuddered. Fuck, had they pushed him? Of course, Bucky wouldn’t join them, even after, if he knew, if that was how he felt.

“Not necessary. I mean, it could be trauma, of course, but it doesn’t have to be. Did you- did you like sex before?” Bucky stared at him.

“What?”

“Before the war? Did you like to have sex then, or-“ Bucky turned, looked at Steve with wide eyes.

“I- I don’t know,” Bucky said, sounding lost. Steve was looking at him, hesitating. He had been very careful not to push memories onto him, so he obviously didn’t want to start doing so now. Tony looked at both of them, still so young and somehow unexperienced.

“Did you ever hear about asexuality?” he asked. Both Steve and Bucky stared at him. Tony was pretty sure that Steve had heard about it before, but Bucky just looked confused.

“What?”

“Asexuality. That’s a sexual orientation, with- well, it describes the lack of sexual attraction, which does not mean that one might not fall in love or be in a relationship. It just means that you might not feel sexual attraction towards your partner. Or partners.”

Bucky looked at him with wonder in his eyes, as if the whole world suddenly made sense again.

“That’s a thing?” he asked. Tony smiled, nodded.

“Yeah. It’s pretty normal, to be honest, just as being gay, or bi, or poly. So yeah, you don’t have to have sex, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t be in a relationship, if that’s a thing you’d like.”

“I-“ He broke off again, overwhelmed.

“You don’t have to decide right now, Buck,” Steve said. He smiled, looked happy even. This was just so like him, to be happy for others, even if it could mean that he would never get what he really wanted. But then again, Bucky was still here, still holding Tony’s hand, still looking at Steve with soft eyes.

“I need- I think I need to think about this some more. But- yeah, I- I think that might be me.” He looked relieved and Tony could definitely relate.

“Okay, so we’re definitely not deciding anything right now and you take as much time as you need. I can give you stuff to read, if you’d like.” Bucky nodded.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Okay, discussion for later,” Steve said. “Cuddles now?” Tony gave him a look, unsure if Bucky actually would want the closeness but also remembering all the times that he had cuddled up to Steve or Tony. Or both of them. He hesitated for a short moment, then opened his arms und gave Bucky a small smile. It was immediately answered by Bucky coming closer, letting himself be held.

“Yeah, cuddles now,” Bucky mumbled against Tony’s chest, sighing contently when Steve draped himself over his back.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaallllll the fluff and cuddles!

Tony woke up between the two supersoldiers, both of them cuddling up to him as if they were afraid he might leave. Not that he had any intention to do so, at least in the near future. It was a good feeling, actually, to be in the middle, with a gorgeous man on each side. He remembered the conversation of last night with Bucky, him not being sure about joining them, somehow clearly wanting but also afraid, so afraid. Now that Tony knew that Bucky might be asexual, it made a bit more sense. It was very well possible that Bucky had been afraid that he could not join them, if he didn’t want sex. Or that they would push him. Tony still wasn’t sure if the hadn’t already done that, but the fact that Bucky had decided to stay, hadn’t left during the night at least pointed in the right direction. Maybe he really did want this. Maybe all he had needed was a word, a concept to understand that he was normal. Well, as normal as anyone’s sexual or romantic orientation ever was.

In the end, it was Morgan who woke them all up. Tony must have fallen asleep again, because he didn’t hear the door open, didn’t hear her little feet on the floor. It was Bucky who heard her, who sat up and caught her as she jumped on the bed, just before she could crash into Tony and Steve.

“Uncle Bucky, noooo,” she shrieked, laughing as he held her loosely in his arms.

“Uncle Bucky, yes,” he said, tickling her for a moment, before he let her go. She didn’t move. Not even when Tony was awake, looking at her.

“Good morning, princess,” he said.

“Good morning, daddy,” she answered, and snuggled deeper into Bucky’s lap. Tony laughed.

“The betrayal!” he cried, watching his daughter and Bucky get comfortable. Steve snorted next to him.

“Don’t lie, you love it.”

“I do, yeah.”

Steve moved a bit closer to Tony, pulling him over to his chest and they stayed like that for a while, soft and warm. For a moment, Tony almost felt like crying, because he couldn’t believe, had never dared to even dream about something like that. To have this, his family and the people he loved, all safe and happy, was more than he could have ever hoped for.

“Tony, are you okay?” Bucky asked softly, because of course he had noticed. He nodded.

“Yeah. I’m good. I just- I just realized how happy I am, how lucky.” He smiled at his daughter, but he also reached out with one hand towards Steve and the other one towards Bucky.

Bucky stared at him, looking misty eyed, too and he could feel Steve pressing his face into Tony’s neck, hiding his surely blushing face. It was sappy as hell, but also nice. To know that they felt it, too.

Eventually, Morgan started to squirm in Bucky’s lap and Steve sat up.

“Okay, you’re gonna make me cry. Let’s go feed your daughter breakfast before that happens, I’m an ugly crier and you do not want to see that.” He was still blushing, but he also looked incredibly happy, so they were probably fine.


	23. Phobia (A2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a fill for A2 "Phobia" on my Tony Stark bingo :)

When Pepper and he had decided on a place for their home, a place where Morgan could grow up, safe and happy, the lake had seemed perfect. And it was. The house was beautiful, it was calm but still close enough to all the important places and big enough for his new, even bigger family. Sure, Tony still wasn’t the biggest fan of large (or small) bodies of water, but the lake was beautiful, and his girls were happy, so he was, too.

He definitely still didn’t swim, but Morgan loved to and she had persuaded both Steve and Bucky to go swimming with her. She had them wrapped around her little finger, which did not surprise Tony at all. Also, he couldn’t say anything either way, because as it turned out he couldn’t resist the combined force of their puppy eyes when they all pleaded with him to join them.

“Please dad, it’s gonna be fun. Steve is going to help me build a castle.” Tony wasn’t too sure how they planned on doing that, since the beach of the lake wasn’t sand, but that didn’t really matter.

“Yeah, you could help us, I’m sure you’re much better at it than I am. And you don’t have to go swimming, Bucky and I can watch her in the water,” Steve added. Tony sighed.

“Right, okay. Fine.” He rolled his eyes but couldn’t help grinning when they all cheered. Even Bucky, though much quieter than Steve and Morgan.

So this is how he ended up sitting on a beach towel in the sun, watching his daughter playing and running around with Steve. Bucky mostly sat next to him, apparently content to watch them as well.

“You don’t have to stay with me to keep me company, Bucky. You can go swimming if you want, I’m not gonna get bored,” Tony said after a while, making sure to smile at Bucky to let him know that he didn’t want him gone, if he preferred to stay.

“I’m fine. Swimming with the arm can be pretty tiring and I don’t mind staying with you. They’re having fun.”

“They would also have fun if you’d join them, you know that, right?” Bucky smiled.

“Yeah. Really, I’m okay Tony.”

They were silent for a while, watching Steve and Morgan play.

“You’re not joining them either,” Bucky said after a while. It wasn’t a question, but the way he said it didn’t make Tony feel judged. It was, well mostly an observation. A correct one, too.

“Yeah.” He hesitated. “Too close to the water,” he added after a moment.

“The water?”

“Mhm. I- I’m kinda aquaphobic.”

“You’re afraid of water?” Tony shrugged.

“Yes. Afraid of drowning, to be precise.”

Bucky was watching him and something in his eyes made Tony think that he knew exactly why Tony was afraid of drowning. He reached out with his metal hand and lightly touched Tony’s neck. Comforting, grounding. Tony smiled. It wasn’t a good smile, not quite, but it was enough to reassure Bucky for a moment.

“I’m fine, mostly. I’m okay with showers, and baths too, most days. It’s just- well, I definitely don’t like swimming anymore.” Bucky nodded again. Then he suddenly straightened a bit.

“Do you mind getting wet?” Tony frowned. Bucky nodded towards the beach, which was empty. Tony immediately made to get up, but Bucky held him back. “They’re fine. I think they’re planning on surprising us and at least Morgan was pretty wet when I last saw her.” Oh.

Tony grinned. “I don’t mind getting wet, as long as no one empties a bucket over my head of anything like that,” he said.

“We’d never dare to do that,” Steve suddenly said from behind them, moment before his – indeed very wet – daughter launched herself at him with a shriek.


	24. Sharing clothes (R2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm still here. Sorry for the delay, I was in Paris last week and I kinda couldn't find the time to post... You'll get two chapters today and then we're back with the usual one chapter per day from tomorrow on. Happy reading :) 
> 
> This is a fill for "sharing clothes" with is R2 on my TS bingo card :)

They were all well and truly wet when they finally made it back to the house. Pepper was immediately there to take Morgan, while she ushered the three of them upstairs to get changed.

Steve pulled them into his room, laughing and smiling. He looked so young and happy here, with Tony and Bucky. It was almost surprising in a way, to see him so happy. After everything that had happened, after all these years. To think that they could have this was.

Bucky was laughing, too. Even he looked younger than he had before, calmer, more settled into himself and in their relationship.

“Steve, let me go,” he said with a grin, not trying to get Steve to let go at all. “I need to get clothes, mine are all wet thanks to you.” Steve shook his head, still smiling.

“You can borrow some of mine,” he said, as if that was reasonable. As if Bucky didn’t have his own clothes just in the next room. But Steve still didn’t let go, obviously determined to keep his lovers as close as possible. Tony gave Bucky a look, trying to figure out what he wanted. Just because the man was calmer now, more comfortable around them, didn’t mean that he would feel comfortable getting changed in front of Steve and Tony. But apparently, this was not a concern. Bucky shrugged, gave Tony a small smiled and took his shirt off. Okay, not a problem, then.

Tony sat down on the bed, content to watch Steve and Bucky interact. He did shrug out of his own wet shirt after a moment, though, because sitting around in wet clothes was no fun. And besides, it was only fair, since both Steve and Bucky had lost their shirts by now. Tony smiled as he watched them, wishing he could go over and cover them in kisses, but knowing that Bucky would definitely not feel comfortable with it. Steve knew that, too, if the look in his eyes was anything to go by. He made do with touching, never getting too close but also never far away. Bucky smiled at him, indulgent and relaxed.

Eventually, Tony got up again and walked over to Steve’s closet. He was pretty sure that Steve’s offer of clothes was not just charitable, but that he actually wanted to see Bucky (and possibly Tony) in his own clothes. Which was fine, definitely. Tony loved it when Pepper stole his shirts, so he could definitely relate.

He passed two of the shirts over to Steve and kept the third one for himself, sitting down on the bed again. After a moment of hesitation, he decided that there was no reason why he shouldn’t get comfortable, so he shrugged out of his pants as well and went in search of his sweatpants that he knew should be somewhere around. He found them, just in time to turn around and see Steve press a soft kiss onto Bucky’s shoulder. He could see them talk in low voices, but he wasn’t focusing enough to understand, and it wasn’t important anyway. Not right now.

Steve definitely looked happy when they made their way back downstairs, half an hour later. Both Bucky and Tony were wearing his shirts, which meant that Steve was having a hard time keeping his hands off them. Well, it wasn’t as if either of them was complaining.


	25. Accidental villainy (S3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is for "accidental villainy" (S3)

It was weird, the way their relationship changed now that Bucky had joined them. And at the same time, it didn’t really change at all. Bucky still only slept with them during the nights they didn’t have sex. He sometimes joined later, but not often and Tony had the feeling that it did indeed make him uncomfortable. But at the same time, it seemed as if knowing what was going on, having a word for how he felt had helped Bucky a lot. He was calmer, more open with them. He wasn’t the biggest fan of kissing just for the sake of kissing, but he loved snuggling up to them in bed or on the couch and he was definitely in favor of forehead and cheek kisses. Which was very cute. And also a great way to make both Steve and Tony blush, for some reason.

But spending even more time with Bucky made them realize all the ways that he still wasn’t okay. He had nightmares most nights and sometimes he’d spend whole days in bed, the feeling of guilt so strong, so oppressing that he couldn’t even get up.

“Do you think talking to Clint might help?” Tony asked Steve on one of the bad days. They had both spent some time with him this morning, but eventually he had asked to be left alone. Steve hated it, hated feeling helpless.

“I don’t know. It’s not exactly the same experience, magic and brainwashing.” Tony shrugged.

“Maybe. But I feel like he needs to talk to someone at some point. Might as well be Clint. If he’s open to it, of course.”

“Who, Clint or Bucky?”

“Both, I guess.” Steve nodded.

“It’s worth a try. I’ll call Clint to ask him, okay?”

“Sure. Tell him that Nat’s around and that he’s due for a visit anyway.”

“Will do.”

Clint agreed. In fact, he was more than happy to come over, although that might be more because Steve bribed him with the promise of food. He came by a couple of days later and with Nat and Sam visiting as well, the kitchen was more than filled. It was fun, watching all of them move around each other, laughing and teasing each other about one thing or another. It was one of Bucky’s better days, so he was right there, too, talking to Natasha and Pepper with a giggling Morgan on his lap.

Clint found them later, when Bucky and Tony had fled outside to the relative calm of the porch. He had two cups with him, one of them he passed to Bucky.

“So, Steve and Tony asked me to talk to you,” he started, clearly not willing to beat around the bush. Bucky frowned, looked at Tony. He tried to give him a reassuring smile, but he wasn’t too sure if it worked. They should have talked to Bucky first.

“I’m sorry, I should have told you,” Tony said, not wanting Bucky to get any wrong ideas. “I thought that maybe if would help, talking to Clint. I might be wrong and it’s absolutely fine if I am. I just thought it might be worth a try.”

“Talking about what?” Bucky asked.

“Accidental villainy,” Clint said with a grin.

“Accidental what?”

“Villainy. Or at least that’s what I call it. Basically, it means every bad thing you did because you were forced to, everything that you’d never have done if you’d have had a choice. But you didn’t.” Bucky frowned.

“Were you brainwashed, too?” Clint shrugged.

“Not in the same way. It was magic in my case, but the end result was the same. No free will and you’re nothing else than a weapon that goes in the direction they’re pointing.”

“Oh… Yeah.”

Tony hesitated. He wanted to give them some privacy, but he also wasn’t sure if Bucky wanted him to leave. But Clint gave him a small smile and nodded towards the door. Okay then.

Bucky found him an hour later, eyes red but with a small smile on his lips. He joined Tony and Morgan on the couch where they were watching a cartoon before the kid needed to go to bed. He snuggled up to them and pressed a small kiss on Tony’s temple.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“Did it help?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Okay. I’m glad.”


	26. Chapter 26

Thinking about how lucky he was also got Tony thinking about the one person he still hadn’t seen: Peter. Sure, he knew that Peter was with his aunt, that he had started school again and that he was doing quite well. But he hadn’t called, hadn’t come to visit and slowly Tony was starting to worry. It wasn’t like the boy to just vanish, that made no sense. So, as soon as he had a quiet minute after breakfast, he went outside on the porch, pulled out his phone and called Happy.

“Hey boss.”

“Not your boss anymore.”

“Ah well, some things never change.”

“That’s true. How are you doing, Happy?”

“Good. Doing good, just as last time we talked. Two days ago. What’s going on?” Damn, Happy was way too good at this. But then again, they had worked together for ages, so it kinda made sense.

“Can’t I just call without needing anything?”

“Yeah sure, but you already did that two days ago.

“Right. Okay, question: Are you still in contact with Peter?”

“We talk from time to time, yeah. Why?”

“How is he doing?”

“Pretty okay. Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

“Haven’t talked to him since- well, since he came back.” There was a pause.

“Why not?” Happy then ask, clearly thinking that this was a stupid thing to do. Tony agreed. Maybe he had waited too long.

“I- I don’t really know, to be honest. He wasn’t at to compound when I woke up, and then all I wanted was to go home. I- I didn’t realize it has been so long, I guess. Has he said anything?”

“No-“ Another pause. “Now that I think about it, he hasn’t talked about you at all.”

“Crap.”

“You want my advice, boss?”

“Yes please!”

“Call him. I can’t imagine him not wanting to talk to you. Call him, invite him over. He hasn’t met Morgan yet, has he? He’s gonna be over to moon to have a little sister.” Sister. Well, it wasn’t as if he didn’t kinda see Peter as his son. Or at least someone very close to him, so- yeah. Yeah, he needed to call him.

“Yeah, I’ll do that. Thank you, Happy.”

“No problem, boss.”

He sat there for a moment, phone in hand, thinking. After a while, Morgan came outside and climbed on his lap.

“Hey there pumpkin. You okay?” She nodded.

“Are you sad, daddy?” He frowned.

“No. What makes you think so?” She looked at him for a moment, thinking.

“You’re sitting here alone and you look sad. You never look sad since uncle Steve and the others came here.” He smiled. Clever little girl.

“Yeah, you’re right. They do make me very happy. What about you?”

“I’m not sad.”

“I know. But does it make you happy to see them, to have them here?” She immediately nodded. Which was good. Tony hadn’t been too worried, but it was still good to be sure.

“They’re fun. They always have time for me to bake cupcakes or play games. I like them.”

“That’s good, peanut. I’m glad you like them.”

She snuggled into his arms, clearly intending to stay for a while. Maybe that was what he needed, a bit of moral support.

“Hey, do you mind if I call someone while you sit here?” She shook his head, eyes closed. He took a deep breath, let it out slowly. Okay, he could do this. It would be fine.


	27. Iron Dad (S5)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a fill for "Iron Dad", which is S5 on my Tony Stark bingo card :)

“Hello?”

“Hey Peter, this is Tony.”

“Mister Stark?”

“Yeah. Although you can definitely call me Tony by now.” He grinned. It was good to hear the kid’s voice. “Am I calling at a bad time? How are you?”

Silence. For a moment, Tony wasn’t sure if Peter had hung up on him, because there was absolutely no reaction. Then:

“No I- I’m at home, I- it’s good to hear you, Mister Stark.”

“Yeah, it’s good to hear you, too. How are you doing? Everyone okay? We didn’t really get a chance to talk, since- well, you know.”

“Yeah, everyone’s fine. MJ and Ned are a pain in my-“ He broke off and there was a sound, as if he had just slapped his hand in front of his mouth. Tony laughed.

“It’s fine, kid. As long as you don’t say that in front of Morgan, everything’s fine.”

“Morgan?”

“Yeah, my daughter? Did you-“

“Oh, Happy told me about her I think. She sounds great.” Tony smiled down at his daughter, who was now almost asleep in his arms.

“Yeah, she is. You’d like her, I think. Actually, I wanted to ask if you felt like coming over sometime?” He tried not to let the hurt show in his voice, but he wasn’t too sure if he succeeded.

“I- I’d love to!” Peter sounded really excited and Tony could almost see him, moving around in his tiny bedroom, so much energy to stay still. “Are you- I mean, are you still-“ He heard Peter take a deep breath, but he didn’t continue. Tony frowned.

“I’m fine, if that’s what you’re asking. I’ve recovered pretty well, way better than I ever expected, to be honest. It’s- it’s nice. Steve and Bucky are around pretty often, and the rest of the new Avengers come to visit us from time to time, too. You should come. There’s- there’s always a place for you here, Peter, I hope you know that. I realize I didn’t- I should have told you. Should have called you sooner. I wasn’t sure if you- well, I wasn’t sure.”

“Oh no, I wanted to come, I wanted to call you, but- Happy said you were still recovering, and- I didn’t know, I thought maybe you didn’t want-“

“I always want you around, kid. You hear me?” He tightened his arm around Morgan, holding her close, wishing that Peter was here, too. God, he missed the kid so much. All these years that he had been gone and now he hadn’t even gotten a chance to see him.

“Kid? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m-“ His voice sounded wet, but Tony didn’t comment on it. There was nothing he could have said, not with the tears on his own face. Morgan was watching him, reaching up to touch him cheek.

“I’m fine, honey,” he said to her. Then: “Peter? You still here?”

“I’m here. I- I have to ask aunt May. I mean, she probably won’t mind, I don’t think, since it’s Friday and- did you, is it okay if I come- I could come another time.” Tony laughed, couldn’t help himself.

“No. Come today. I’ll text Happy if he has time, I’m sure he won’t mind driving you here. Okay?”

“I- yeah. Thank you, Mist- thank you, Tony.” He smiled.

“You’re very welcome, Peter. I’m looking forward to seeing you, okay?”

It was Steve who found them, half an hour later, still sitting there, phone in hand. The screen had long gone dark, but he was still kinda staring at it.

“Hey. Are you okay?” Tony nodded.

“Yeah. I called the kid.”

“Oh. Is he coming to visit?” Tony smiled, nodding. Steve smiled back.

“I’m glad,” he said, pressing a kiss on Morgan’s forehead, then on Tony’s lips.


	28. Chapter 28

Tony was in the kitchen with Bucky and Morgan when Happy and Peter arrived. Morgan noticed them first, almost screeching when she spotted (one of) her favorite uncle(s). Unfortunately, she was still in Bucky’s arms when they came in, so she started to try and wiggle her way out, which meant that Bucky suddenly found himself in the very rare position of not being the person that Morgan wanted to be with. He set her down carefully, then watched her dash out of the kitchen into Happy’s arms with an odd look on his face.

“Hey, you okay?” Tony asked. Bucky nodded, but the look didn’t go away.

“Don’t worry, she does not like you any less just because she likes someone else as well.” Usually, Tony would have tried to make a joke, but he wasn’t sure how Bucky would take it and this was actually important. It was something that Tony had had to learn as well. Bucky nodded again.

“Yeah, I- I know that. I was just surprised, I guess, but it makes sense, she doesn’t get to see him that often.” Tony gave him a proud smile and then turned to Peter, who was still standing in the kitchen door, looking lost and confused. Tony opened his arms.

“Come here, kid,” he said softly, and Peter crashed into the hug within seconds. Tony felt the last of the tension in his body melt away, content with holding the kid as long as either of them needed it. He wasn’t even surprised when he felt his shirt getting wet, when he felt the slight tremors going through him.

After a while, Peter seemed to calm down. He let go of Tony but the hesitation was very clear in every movement. He even tried to hide his face, although Tony wasn’t sure if that was because he was embarrassed about crying or something else. So in the end, he decided to react just as he would with Morgan: something nice to drink and cuddles on the couch.

It seemed like Bucky had them covered, because there were two mugs of hot chocolate and a plate of cookies standing next to them on the counter. Tony pushed one mug into Peter’s hands and then gently steered him in direction of the living room. Bucky must have warned the others, because there was no one around.

“Mister Stark-“ Peter started, looking kinda overwhelmed. Tony shook his head.

“Cookies and cuddles now, talk later, okay? I mean-“ he stopped, considered what he was doing. “I realize I’m kinda treating you the same way I treat my five year old, which yeah, I can stop doing that, but-“

“No, I- that sounds pretty much perfect, to be honest.”

“Okay, then let’s do that.”

They did in fact spend the next hour on the couch, eating cookies and watching Steve Irwin documentaries. At some point, Morgan joined them, apparently not bothered at all by the teenager sitting on their couch. Maybe Happy had told her about him. Or maybe she just didn’t care. Tony smiled when she sat down next to Peter, looked at him for a moment and then declared:

“I’m Morgan and my favorite animals are sloths.” Peter laughed.

“Hi Morgan, my name is Peter. My favorite animals are monkeys.”

“Not spiders?” Tony asked, earning a glare from Peter. He grinned. Peter threw a pillow at him. Which was obviously a declaration of war, at least in Morgan’s eyes. He hadn’t exactly expected her to team up with Peter, not two minutes after meeting him, but well, he wasn’t really surprised. And he definitely didn’t mind.


	29. Free (A3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided that this one is a fill for my free space, A3, which also means that this is my third bingo ^^

They all had dinner together and while Peter seemed a bit star struck by all the superheros sitting at the table. But Pepper and Steve didn’t have any problem to include him in their conversation and the rest was taken care of by Morgan, who was delighted to make a new friend. Tony really needed to make sure that she saw Barton’s kids more often, right now she was mostly in the company of adults. Which she didn’t seem to mind, but it would be good for her to have friends in her own age range as well.

Bucky and Steve decided to watch a movie after dinner, but Peter seemed to restless for sitting around on the couch, so Tony asked him, if he wanted to go for a walk. He had other motives as well, of course. He had found that walks, just as long car rides were a great possibility to talk, because there was always the option of looking at the scenery, if looking at the other person was too difficult or anything like that. Peter seemed very much in favor of that idea.

The night was still warm and walking by the lake while the stars were reflected in the water. It was calm, which made it all the more obvious that Peter wasn’t.

“Hey, what is it?” Tony asked after a while, because by now he had learned that actually talking about stuff usually worked a lot better than trying to ignore it and hoping it would go away. Also, he definitely wanted to know what was going on, because he did not enjoy seeing Peter being so nervous. The boy shrugged, then looked out onto the water. He stopped walking for a moment and nodded when Tony pointed out a bench closer to the shore. They sat in silence for a while.

“There’s something I need to tell you,” Peter finally said, which did not help against the worrying at all. Tony nodded.

“Okay,” he said, not really knowing what else to add. But then again, his job was to listen right now.

“I-“ he broke off, took a deep breath, let it go. It was very obvious that he did not want to say what he was planning on saying and yet. Tony had half a mind to just stop him, but it was obviously important. Peter took another deep breath and then said: “I’m trans.” Which- was not what Tony had expected at all. But okay, he could work with that.

“Okay, thank you for telling me. Do you- do you want me to use different pronouns or another name or anything?”

Peter was staring at him. Tony frowned, worried again.

“I- did I say something wrong? I’m not sure, I-“ But Peter was already shaking his (her? Their?) head.

“No, I- I didn’t expect-“ He broke off, started again. “I transitioned a couple of years ago, have been on T for a while now, so- no, definitely he/him pronouns. I just- I just wanted to tell you, I guess.”

“Oh. Oh, okay. Thank you!” Peter nodded. He still looked a bit surprised, as if he had expected another reaction. Was there anything that Tony was supposed to say? Peter was still kinda staring at him, so in the end Tony just decided to ask. “Peter, is there anything else you need me to say? Or do? I- I’m not sure what the protocol is here, to be honest.”

“No, I- no, this is perfect, it’s just- I didn’t expect it to be this easy, I guess.”

“What do you mean?” Peter shrugged and very obviously didn’t look at him. Did he-

“What did you expect, then?” Tony asked, trying very hard not to let his voice show how much the thought hurt, that Peter might not have trusted him, that he might have expected him to react badly.

“I don’t know. It’s not- it’s not that I thought you wouldn’t be okay with it, it’s just- it’s hard, that’s all.”

“What is hard?” Peter shrugged.

“I don’t know. All of it. Coming out, telling someone, it’s always hard, no matter how much you- well.”

“Oh. Okay yeah, that makes sense.” And it also reminded Tony that this was not about him. Sure, he was honored that Peter trusted him enough, that he thought Tony was important enough to know. But in the end, this was about Peter, who just told him something that probably not that many people knew. And besides, it wasn’t as if Tony didn’t know how hard coming out was.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right. Hi, I'm still here, life happened.. Have fun with this chapter :)

They sat in silence for a while and Tony could definitely tell that Peter was calmer now. The important part of the conversation was done, whatever else there was would be okay. In the end, it was Tony who broke the silence.

“So, can I ask you a question? And please feel free to punch me in the face or something if it’s inappropriate.” Peter grinned.

“Sure, ask away.”

“Are you wearing a binder?” Peter frowned and Tony quickly shook his head. “I’m not- Actually, I don’t care about that, I just- That was never a factor that I included in the making of the suit and I was just wondering if there was anything I could do to make it, you know, more comfortable. Safer, too, I guess.”

Peter was staring at him, but this time he grinned.

“Yeah, I’m wearing a binder. It’s not- well I guess it’s not optimal, but I try to take it off as often as I can. I don’t really know if there’s anything that could make the suit more comfortable. I mean, it already feels really good, so…”

“Hmm. But you’re not supposed to wear a binder while exercising, right?” Peter shrugged.

“I mean, yeah. But- I can’t not wear it. It makes me feel really dysphoric, which means that I’d be basically useless. I can’t concentrate on saving people if all I can think about is how bad I feel, how much I want to be different, to be- well, it wouldn’t work. So it’s not like I really have a choice, to be honest.” Tony looked at him, the way he clearly felt uncomfortable with the mere thought of being Spiderman without his binder. That wouldn’t work, of course.

“Is there a way to make it safer?”

“I don’t know. Maybe, I guess. But then again, it’s not like the suit with a binder is really uncomfortable, it works fine most of the time.”

“But it could be better?” Peter shrugged, clearly already thinking. Tony smiled. “Wanna find ways to make it better?” Peter grinned, nodded.

It was Pepper who found them hours later, sitting over holograms of binders and the Spiderman suit, throwing around ideas. They were having fun, so Tony couldn’t even pretend to be surprised by the fact that it was already two in the morning. They both smiled sheepishly as Pepper ushered Peter to bed and then dragged Tony along. The scene was familiar and new at the same time. Of course, Pepper had dragged him away from his work a thousand times, and this hadn’t changed that much after they got Morgan. But still, sitting there and working with Peter was a novelty that Tony could never have imagined that he would have one day.

Tony went through his bedtime routine as a way of finding his way back from work mode. When he emerged, Pepper was already in bed, but clearly waiting for him.

“What did you work on?” she wanted to know. Tony hesitated.

“His suit, mostly,” he said, which was definitely true.

“I though you already perfected that years ago.”

“Nothing is ever perfect, you know that.” Pepper grinned.

“Well, I wouldn’t be so sure,” she said, holding her hand out for him. He smiled.


	31. Picture of Tony working on his suit (R3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a fill for R3 on my TS bingo card :) Also my third and fourth bingo ^^

Peter and Tony spent almost the entire Saturday working on the suit. They used the opportunity to work on other aspects as well, but mostly they tried to find a way of making the suit as safe as it could possibly be for Peter. It was weird, somehow, spending hours and hours working on a suit that could mean so much. It reminded Tony very much of the time that he first invented the Iron Man suit. Not in the cave, that had always been little more than a crude prototype. No, the first suits that he built in Malibu, even before Stane’s betrayal. For a while, he’d seen his salvation in these suits, the only way to atone for all the things he’d done wrong. It had taken him years (as well as losing a kid and then having a baby just months later) to understand, that his way to salvation had never been the suits.

So yeah, working with Peter felt very similar to how he had felt all those years ago. But it was also very different. Not only were they not in an underground workshop in a fancy house in Malibu. They spent most of the time right here, in the living room, playing around with holograms and FRIDAY. They would of course move to production trials very soon (which meant moving over to the garage, which was still something that made Tony laugh), but for now, they were content with research and hypothetical trails.

“So, is he gonna be the new you?” someone suddenly asked, which made Tony realized that he’d been zoning for a while now. He had not heard anyone enter the room and he had definitely not realized that Rhodey was here.

“Rhodey!” he cried, holding his arms out for a hug. It worked very well in making Rhodey (and Peter) laugh. “When did you get here?”

“About ten minutes ago. Have been standing here for two of them, by the way. Aren’t you supposed to have spider senses, Peter?” he asked, grinning. Peter blushed.

“Doesn’t work when I’m feeling- well, safe.” That worked very well in preventing any further teasing from both Rhodey and Tony (mostly because Tony was trying very hard not to cry, which meant that Rhodey would definitely concentrate any teasing on him).

“Aw, kid, that’s sweet,” he said. “So, now that you have finally noticed me, I brought a guest,” Rhodey said with a nod in direction of the kitchen.

“Who is it? Is it someone fun?” Tony asked, already getting up and stretching. He was not made for sitting over a project for hours at a time. Rhodey grinned.

“Well, she’s not as murderous as she used to be, so I guess you could almost classify her as fun,” he said. Tony frowned. Did he know murderous people? Apart from Natasha, of course, but she didn’t really count as a guest anymore.

“Should I be worried?” Peter wanted to know. Rhodey shook his head.

“Nah. Nebula’s cool, you’ll like her.”

“Really? I thought she was in space?” Tony asked, suddenly very excited for their guest.

“Yeah, but they came for a visit. The others are still at the compound, but Nebula wanted to know if we could come and see you. I- I assume that’s okay?” They hadn’t really seen each other during those five years, which was obviously something that Rhodey knew.

“Of course!” Tony said, smiling. “She should know that she’s always welcome here.”


	32. AU: Cyberpunk (S2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for S2 'AU: Cyberpunk' :)

“Wasn’t sure if that’s still open,” Nebula said, leaning casually on the kitchen door frame. She looked good and seeing her made Tony realize how much he’d missed her. But before he could answer, Peter saw her.

“Oh my God, you’re a cyborg!” he exclaimed, before slapping a hand in front of his mouth and staring at them with wide, almost scared eyes. Tony laughed; Nebula mostly looked confused.

“What is- a cyborg?” she asked.

“A cyborg is short for cybernetic organism, which basically means a being that is both organic and biomechatronic. So yeah, Peter’s actually right, you are a cyborg.” She crooked her head at him, raising one (nonexistent?) eyebrow. He smiled. “Also, Peter, this is Nebula, Nebula, this is Peter Parker. You’ve met before on Titan, but- you know. Proper introduction and stuff.”

Nebula nodded and quickly crossed the room to stand in front of Peter. He stared at her. She reached out and offered her hand to shake, which only made Peter look even more nervous. She frowned and looked at Rhodey for help. He laughed.

“Just shake her hand, kid, she’s not gonna bite you.”

“But- I called her a cyborg?”

“Yeah, which is accurate.”

Peter slowly reached out and shook her hand. He didn’t even try to hide the way he was looking at her, obviously fascinated. Tony could understand him, he had felt pretty much the same, the first time he met her. Or rather, during the time they spent together in space.

Tony managed to usher them all into the kitchen. Peter definitely needed to eat something, and he’d learned that people in general usually felt more comfortable when they were sitting around a table. Food was as good an excuse as any. Even though that might not be true for Nebula, seeing as she wasn’t really “people”. Although he had to admit that she’d learned a lot during her time on earth. Especially since Rhodey had taken her under his wing, which Tony could say from his own experience, was great. Nobody gave better hugs than Rhodey. 

Peter had apparently overcome his nervousness and was asking Nebula a thousand questions. She accepted her fate with good grace. Tony was pretty sure she was having fun, even, and his assessment seemed confirmed by the fond smile on Rhodey’s face.

He sat down next to Rhodey, moving close enough that their shoulders were touching.

“Hey. How are you?” Tony asked softly. Rhodey smiled.

“Good. Lot to do, still, but it’s going well. The world is slowly getting back to normal, I guess.”

“Whatever normal is.”

“Right.” Rhodey grinned, laugh-lines clear in his face. God, Tony loved that man.

“Hey, are you staying the night?” He glanced at Pepper who was watching them with a soft look on her face. “Stay with us?” Rhodey nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll stay the night.”

Tony pressed a kiss on Rhodey cheek, just before he noticed Steve and Bucky watching him. He raised an eyebrow, which made Steve blush and Bucky grin. But they didn’t look jealous, so it was probably okay. He needed to find the time to talk to them soon, just to make sure that everything was alright. Poly relationships were so much work sometimes.

By the time that Tony tried to follow Peter’s conversation with Nebula again, the boy was talking about the New Wave science fiction movement of the 60s and 70s, before moving on to an ode on to Blade Runner. Which yeah, Tony had to admit, was not only a very important movie for the whole cyperpunk genre, but a really good one, too. Steve and Bucky might enjoy that one, even though it did have some dark themes. Ah well, movie night (without Morgan) would come soon enough.


	33. Friday (K2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a fill for K2 'Friday' :)

Tony watched as Nebula brought Morgan to bed with an endless patience for her questions and stories. The fact that Nebula was blue and partly machine didn’t seem to bother her. But then again, she grew up with Iron Man as her father, so maybe it was to be expected.

When Morgan finally fell asleep, Nebula stayed next to her bed for a moment, before she turned her head and looked at Tony. She got up and joined him.

“She is a good kid,” Nebula said. “Loved. You are a good father.”

Tony smiled, even though he was sure that Nebula could read the sadness in his eyes. She deserved so much more.

“Thank you.” He reached out to her, took her hand. “I need you to know that you are always welcome here. No matter what happens, no matter how long ago your last visit was, I will always want you here.”

She stared at him, surprise clear in her black eyes. He sighed, pulled her along into the kitchen.

“Did you even try hot chocolate?” he asked. She shook her head. He spent the next couple of minutes thinking about what he wanted to say. He wasn’t sure if Nebula would understand him, would understand the concept of a found family, but he had to try. She deserved a loving family, more than anybody else.

“Okay, so you know how I say Peter is my kid, even though he’s not my biological son? Not the way Morgan is my daughter.” She nodded.

“Humans are good at pack bonding,” she said, as if this was something that she had read somewhere or heard. Not experienced.

“Right, yeah. But we’re not only good at pack bonding with other humans. We do it with our pets as well, we see them as parts of the family. Or- actually,FRIDAY, you up?”

“Sure, boss.”

“Nebula, meet FRIDAY. FRIDAY, meet Nebula.” He pointed at the ceiling, not because that was where FRIDAY was (of course not, no matter what Steve said), but because that was where her voice was coming from. “FRIDAY is an AI, an artificial intelligence. She doesn’t have a body, she’s mostly just a string of code. And she’s my daughter.”

“Your daughter?” Her voice was disbelieving, which only made Tony sadder. “But she’s not- human. She’s not alive.” Tony sighed, then pushed her cup of hot chocolate closer to her.

“Try this.”

“I don’t need to drink.” Yeah. This was exactly the problem.

“Maybe. But you can and you deserve good things. Just as FRIDAY deserves to be loved. Just because she has no body, doesn’t mean she’s not my daughter. I made her. Also, she’s very much alive.”

“I love you too, boss,” FRIDAY injected. Tony grinned.

“So you see, if FRIDAY can be my daughter, so can you.”

Nebula stared at him, obviously speechless. Tony carefully reached out to her, put his hand on her arm.

“I would be honored to call you my father,” she said, her voice grave and hushed. Okay wow, serious business.

“I’m honored to call you my daughter,” he answered, hoping that the answer was somehow good enough. Hoping that he could live up to his own expectations (and hers, although that might not be so hard, seeing as she had no positive experience).

They smiled at each other and Tony could feel his eyes getting wet. He took a deep breath and nodded towards her cup.

“Drink your hot chocolate.”


	34. Zombie (K5)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a fill for K5 "Zombie" :)

Nebula took her role as older sister very serious and Tony was having the time of his life, watching her. Morgan already loved her anyway, so she definitely didn’t mind spending time with her. Peter was- mostly confused. They didn’t get to spend a lot of time together, because Peter had to go back to school on Monday, but Nebula made sure to be able to hang around with him for a couple of hours before he left, which Tony found very sweet. He suspected that Peter believed that Tony had sent her, but either way he didn’t seem to mind, really. 

Nebula was very fascinated by the videogames that Peter and Morgan played. She was definitely interested in the colorful games that Morgan favored. Her favorite game at the moment was Plants vs. Zombies, which struck Tony as weird, but the game was fun, pretty light-hearted (for a shooter about plants and- well, zombies) and she could play it with Peter or somebody else, which was perfect.

Now that Nebula had joined their little group, Peter tried to get her to play, too. This not only lead to an introduction in videogames and how to play them, but also to a long discussion about zombies, what they were and why they were to be killed. Explaining the concept of a zombie to a cyborg wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

Simply describing them as undead being definitely wasn’t enough, since Nebula argued that she too, was an undead being, and it didn’t explain the whole concept either. In the end, Peter went with a similar route as the explanation about cyborg by talking about the whole history of the concept, the Western adaptation of a Haitian tradition.

And then Morgan ruined all his efforts by saying: “They’re evil and you have to kill them, aunt Nebula.” Which, to nobody’s surprise, worked way better at getting her to play the game than any kind of explanation Peter gave her ever could. Mostly, because Nebula was absolutely smitten with Morgan.

“Are you alright?” Rhodey asked, as he joined Tony on the couch, where he was watching the kids trying to stop a zombie invasion. He smiled.

“Yeah. I feel old, though.” Rhodey laughed.

“Yeah, me too. But you know, I think we’re allowed to feel old by now. The kids are alright.” Tony laughed.

“Yeah, the kids are definitely alright.”

It should have been weird, this whole constellation. But it didn’t take long for Steve and Bucky to join them in the living room, sitting down next to Morgan and cheering on her. This of course meant that Rhodey started cheering on Nebula, while Pepper supported Peter. They all looked at Tony, awaiting his decision. He laughed.

“Don’t ask me to choose between my children, that’s not fair.” Rhodey called him a coward, but Peter and Nebula definitely seemed very happy with his announcement, so Tony counted that as a win. It was weird, being the center of their little universe, but this was also the happiest Tony had ever been, so Tony was definitely not complaining. It was perfect, being here, surrounded by his family.


	35. Cinderella Story (A4)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last one!! It's for A4 "Cinderella Story" on my TSB, which means that I now have a blackout card!! Yay ^^ 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who read this story, left kudos or wrote comments, you guys rock!   
> And a special shout-out to professionaldumbass who's been rooting for that story from the very beginning and also just for being the amazing friend and wonderful person that they are! 
> 
> I hope you like the last chapter :)

Eventually, the kids got bored of their game and decided that they wanted to watch a movie. Morgan demanded Disney and she was immediately supported by Peter. Nebula didn’t know what Disney movies were, but she seemed to be in favor of everything her siblings wanted, so Disney it was.

“Which one?” Tony wanted to know. Morgan began rattling of all the movies she knew and liked, which were basically everyone with a princess in it.

“I like Cinderella,” Peter said after a moment and Tony decided that this was as good as any other choice they could make.

“Cinderella it is, then. FRIDAY?” Moments later, the movie began playing and they all settled down again. Morgan snuggled up to Peter, which was so adorable that Tony had to hide his face in Bucky’s chest for a moment.

“You okay?” Steve wanted to know, voice quiet and calm. Tony nodded.

“Yeah. They’re adorable. And I- I don’t know, I’m just really happy.” Steve and Bucky both smiled.

“Yeah, me too,” Steve said.

“What is positive in a story about a girl whose family is horrible to her?” Nebula asked about halfway into the movie. Peter shook his head, a faint blush visible on his cheeks.

“It’s not about that. It’s that-“ He hesitated. “She’s hiding who she really is, because her family doesn’t accept her, doesn’t even like her. But with a little help from her Fairy Godmother she can transform into who she really is, who she was always meant to be. And- I don’t know, I just think that’s really beautiful. Sure, she’s a very passive character and stuff, but still… I mean, it’s a fairy tale, so…” He broke off, blushing more obviously now. Tony smiled at him.

“I think Peter’s right. It’s a really beautiful story, about how horrible it is to have to hide yourself, your true self and how freeing it can be to receive and accept help. And how important it is to accept your kids as they are, no matter what.”

“Oh.” Steve was smiling at them. “That is a really nice interpretation, I like that.” The others nodded and now it was Peter’s turn to hide.

“You okay there, kid?” Tony asked quietly. Peter nodded.

“Yeah. Just- It’s nice. Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome.”

Tony leaned back against Bucky. Pepper smiled at him and patted her lap, so he stretched out his legs, too. She immediately began massaging his feet, because for some reason that was something that she liked doing while watching a movie. Rhodey grinned at her, arms wrapped tight around her waist. The kids were all lounging around on the couch and the floor, eating popcorn and probably getting half of it under the furniture, but Tony couldn’t bring himself to care. He was way too happy to be annoyed about something like that.

It was still hard to believe, some days, that he might deserve this. That he actually might be able to keep it, too. Happiness was something he hadn’t really known for so long, not the way he was happy now. All the second and third chances, all the missed opportunities. All the ways he had fallen in love with people and people had fallen in love with him. To be here, with his family, after all these years was more than he’d have ever dreamed of. And he definitely planned on never letting this go. No one could take his family away from him.


End file.
